Article Title: Providing Evidence For Medical And Mental Health Practice Through Systematic Reviews
Author(s): Fazal Ghani, Muhammad Irfan
Institute(s): Department of Prosthodontics, Khyber College of Dentistry, University Campus, Peshawar, Department of Psychiatry, PGMI, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar
Journal: Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society, 2006, Vol. 3. No. 2, p. 70-73
Correspondence Address: fazalg55@yahoo.co.in; mirfan78@yahoo. com.
Because patients, each day, present with a range of unpredictable and untimely conditions, clinicians these days are faced by an ever increasing uncertainties. On the other hand clinicians face much more difficulty in accepting the uncertainty, especially in the health services. Therefore, they have to acquire the skills to recognize, understand and master the uncertainty surrounding them. This they can do by recognizing their own skills, experience, and knowledge base. The critical appraisal skills, core skills of evidence based medical practice when acquired will help individuals understand and deal with the uncertainty in practice. Concurrently, the ever increasing interest in taking health-care decision that are based on evidence from a variety of health professional groups has made the topic of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) a global phenomenon taking place at a variety of speeds in different countries. With the idea already widely welcomed by all, the scope of EBM has become very broad. This can be seen from the increased collaboration between individuals and organizations in their effort to exploit their potential for improved patient’s care. Now we see an increasing number of randomized controlled trials (RCT), systematic reviews (SSRs), increased links between researchers and organizations and number of position statements and development of clinical practice guidelines.
