The Doctors Guide to Critical Appraisal

Learning the skill of critical appraisal is like learning a foreign language – wherever you start, you come across unfamiliar words and concepts. However, persistence pays off and, like speaking a foreign language, the earlier it is mastered and the more it is used, the easier critical appraisal becomes. Critical appraisal skills are now as much a part of the clinician’s armoury as the ability to diagnose conditions and prescribe treatments. Critical appraisal skills allow clinicians to prioritise evidence that can improve outcomes. Such is the importance of acquiring these skills that critical appraisal is now routinely tested in medical, dental and nursing exams. We wrote the first edition of this book 6 years ago to explain critical appraisal to the busy clinician. Our aim has always been for the book to be the one-stop solution for all clinicians. Based on our teaching experience, we took a unique back-to-basics approach that provided a logical and comprehensive review of the subject. This new edition expands on the last edition with updated information, new chapters and more help with difficult topics. We hope that by reading this book you will start reading and appraising clinical papers with more confidence. The language of evidence-based medicine is not as foreign as you might think.