You've acquired scholarly literature and clinical evidence and appraised or evaluated the sources you've found. It's now time to integrate that evidence with your own clinical expertise and knowledge of your patient's preferences, circumstances, and values. Research evidence by itself is not enough to determine or justify a treatment. Your clinical expertise, your assessment of the patient, and laboratory data, are also important components in determining what evidence from your research is applied to your patient.
Some questions to consider:
- Were the patients in the study similar to my patient? In other words, do the results apply to my patient?
- Were all clinically important outcomes considered? Are the results clinically important?
- Are possible treatment benefits worth the potential harm and costs?
- Is it possible to implement this practice in a healthcare setting?
- What are my patients' preferences, circumstances, and values?
- How can I help my patient make the best decision for them?
Guyatt GH, Haynes R, Jaeschke RZ, et al. (2000). Users' guides to the medical literature: XXV. Evidence-based medicine: Principles for applying the Users' Guides to patient care. JAMA, 2(84), 290-1296. https://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.284.10.1290