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Training Videos
Here is a collection of mini tutorials on finding the evidence provided by Neal Thurley and Owen Coxall who regularly tutor on CEBM courses. It is recommended that you watch them in order.
Flash versions require Adobe Flash Player, and the PDF versions require Adobe Reader.
Finding the Evidence 1
Using PICO to formulate a search question
Finding the Evidence 2
Turning search terms into a search strategy
Finding the Evidence 3
Turning your search strategy into results: PubMed demonstration
We recommend printing this copy of the search strategy to accompany Video 3.
Finding the Evidence
It is important when searching for evidence that search terms are referred back to your original PICO question. The process of finding evidence therefore follow three key steps:
- Identify terms to fit your PICO question
- Look for secondary sources
- Search for primary sources
See our Searching Exercise page for a guide on how to complete this process.
1. Identify terms to fit your PICO question
| Patient | Intervention | Comparison | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
Download 'Asking Clinical Questions' - guide to constructing PICO questions
2. Look for secondary sources
- Guidelines: UK National Library for Health, NICE, SIGN; US National Guidelines Clearinghouse; Canadian Medical Association; New Zealand Guidelines Group.
- CATs: CAT Crawler
- Evidence-Based Summaries: Bandolier, Clinical Evidence
- Structured Abstracts: EBM Online, ACP Journal Club
- Systematic Reviews: Cochrane Library
- To search several of the databases simultaneously you can use: www.tripdatabase.com
3. Search for Primary Sources
Use methodological filters to target the right type of study. For instance, PubMED filters for:
- therapy
- diagnosis
- prognosis
- aetiology
Page last edited: 28 January 2013
