• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.224-230
• /
• 2001

EBM is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in mating decisions about the care of the individual patient. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research." EBM is the integration of clinical expertise, patient values, and the best evidence into the decision making process for patient care. The practice of EBM is usually triggered by patient encounters which generate questions about the effects of therapy, the utility of diagnostic tests, the prognosis of diseases, or the etiology of disorders. The best evidence is usually found in clinically relevant research that has been conducted using sound methodology. Evidence-based medicine requires new skills of the clinician, including efficient literature-searching, and the application of formal rules of evidence in evaluating the clinical literature. Evidence-based medicine converts the abstract exercise of reading and appraising the literature into the pragmatic process of using the literature to benefit individual patients while simultaneously expanding the clinician's knowledge base. This review will briefly discuss about concepts of evidence medicine and method of critical appraisal of literatures.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.189-200
• /
• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the current state of quantitative literature evidence for the prescription of 56 herbal medicines covered by health insurance that have been studied in Korea for the past 30 years, to evaluate the reliability of the evidence, and to find out the research direction of herbal medicine prescription in the future. Methods: 56 kinds of herbal medicine prescriptions were searched in domestic literature search databases OASIS, DBpia, and overseas PubMed, classified into chemistry, toxicity, cells, animals, clinical cases, and clinical trial studies, and built into an EBM pyramid structure. Results: When classified according to research contents, there were 61 cases (7.5%) of physicochemical analysis to identify constituent substances, 80 cases (9.8%) of toxicity evaluation, and 672 cases (82.7%) of efficacy evaluation. The efficacy evidence was classified according to the evidence-based medical pyramid structure: 196 cell trials (29.1%), 372 animal trials (55.4%), 89 case and case reporting series (13.3%), 7 comparative case studies (1.1%), and 8 randomized control clinical trials (1.2%). In the pyramid composition, the basis for the validity of 56 kinds of herbal medicines prescribed was 568 cases (84.5%) in cell and animal units, which could not be said to be highly reliable. There was no relationship between the ranking of quantitative literature evidence for herbal medicine prescriptions and the ranking of salary administration. Conclusions: In an era that continues to require scientific evidence for herbal medicine, traditional herbal medicine should secure the basis for safety validity even for the 10th most frequent prescription among 56 herbal medicine prescriptions for consumers. In particular, traditional herbal medicine should increase the quantitative and qualitative level of case reports on related herbal medicine prescriptions, focusing on each clinical society, and move toward comparative case studies and randomized clinical trial so that traditional herbal medicine is positioned as Evidence-based medicine.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.411-418
• /
• 2015

Background The plastic surgery literature is vast, consisting of a plethora of diverse articles written by a myriad of illustrious authors. Despite this considerable archive of published material, it remains nebulous as to which precise papers have had the greatest impact on our specialty. The aim of this study was to identify the most cited papers in the plastic surgery literature and perform a citation analysis paying particular attention to the evidence levels of the clinical studies. Methods We identified the 50 most cited papers published in the 20 highest impact plastic surgery journals through the Web of Science. The articles were ranked in order of number of citations acquired and level of evidence assessed. Results The top 50 cited papers were published in six different journals between the years 1957 and 2007. Forty-two of the papers in the top 50 were considered as level IV or V evidence. No level I or II evidence was present in the top 50 list. The average level of evidence of the top 50 papers was 4.28. Conclusions In the plastic surgery literature, no positive correlation exists between a high number of citations and a high level of evidence. Anatomical reconstructive challenges tend to be the main focus of plastic surgery rather than pathologic diseases and consequently, papers with lower levels of evidence are relatively more valuable in plastic surgery than many other specialties.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.16 no.sup1
• /
• pp.89-112
• /
• 2022

An accurate assessment of the recommended calcium (Ca) intake may contribute to reducing the risk of fractures and chronic diseases, ultimately improving quality of life. This review was performed to summarize key findings of Ca studies, investigate the effect of Ca intake on health outcomes, and determine the adequacy of evidence to revise the 2015 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) for Ca in 2020. Databases were searched for intervention studies that assessed health outcomes by providing Ca in diets or as supplements. The framework of the systematic review comprised conducting literature searches, data extraction, quality assessment of the literature, and summarizing key findings relevant to set the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) and Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for Ca for the 2020 KDRI. The final search was performed in June 2019. A total of 13,309 studies were identified through databases and manual search. Sixtyfive studies were included in the final quality assessment and were summarized according to health indicators. As bone health was used as an indicator of the EAR for Ca, literature reports on bone health were further categorized by the life-cycle stage of the participants. This systematic review did not find new evidence that could be applied to the general Korean adult population, including postmenopausal women, for defining a new EAR for Ca in the 2020 KDRIs. Evidence in most of the reviewed literature was considered weak; however, some evidence was found that could improve the criteria on how the EAR for Ca was determined in children and adolescents. A review of the literature for the 2020 KDRIs for Ca did not find strong evidence in order to change the recommended values of the 2015 KDRIs. More clinical interventions are required among Koreans to strengthen the body of evidence to warrant the revision of the KDRIs.

• ETRI Journal
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.813-823
• /
• 2015

Because protein is a primary element responsible for biological or biochemical roles in living bodies, protein function is the core and basis information for biomedical studies. However, recent advances in bio technologies have created an explosive increase in the amount of published literature; therefore, biomedical researchers have a hard time finding needed protein function information. In this paper, a classification system for biomedical literature providing protein function evidence is proposed. Note that, despite our best efforts, we have been unable to find previous studies on the proposed issue. To classify papers based on protein function evidence, we should consider whether the main claim of a paper is to assert a protein function. We, therefore, propose two novel features - protein and assertion. Our experimental results show a classification performance with 71.89% precision, 90.0% recall, and a 79.94% F-measure. In addition, to verify the usefulness of the proposed classification system, two case study applications are investigated - information retrieval for protein function and automatic summarization for protein function text. It is shown that the proposed classification system can be successfully applied to these applications.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
• /
• v.45 no.2 s.453
• /
• pp.89-102
• /
• 2007

Evidence-based dentistry is a new, worldwide trend in the field of clinical dentistry. Despite this fact, it has been neglected in Korean dental community. Thus, its basic concepts and the 5-step procedures are introduced and described in this 2-part series report. Evidence-based dentistry is a method of clinical practice where the clinicians use the best available research evidence for their own clinical decision making. By using this method, the clinical outcomes can be improved and the clinicians themselves can have the ability to keep watch over their daily practices. To clinically apply the principles of evidence-based dentistry, dental practitioners have to formulate a clear question, find the best available research evidence efficiently, critically appraise the evidence systematically, apply the results of the evidence to their practice, and evaluate the clinical outcomes comprehensively. In building a clinical question, it is essential to categorize questions according to their types followed by their organization using the key elements. Then, literature search must be done. There are many web sites for searching evidence, but PubMed is considered to be the leading site. To efficiently search the literature, search term must be selected appropriately and the search results should be limited.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.23-36
• /
• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe physical therapists' self-reported: (1) attitudes and beliefs about evidence~based practice(EBP), (2) education, knowledge, and skills related to obtaining and evaluating evidence, (3) attention to the literature relevant to practice, (4) access to and availability of information and (5) perceptions of the barriers to evidence-based practice. Methods: Our study sample consisted of a random sample of 90 physical therapists in gwang-ju and junnam. Participants completed a questionnaire. Responses were summarized for each item, and logistic regression analyses were used to examine relationships among variables. Results: According to the respondents, the primary barrier to implementing EBP was lack of time. The results suggest they believe that the use of evidence in practice was necessary, that the literature is helpful to them in their practice and decision making, and that quality of patient care is better when evidence is used. Many of the beliefs, skills and behaviors we examined were related to the education courses and sex. The majority of the respondents had access to online information at home. Conclusion: They noted that they needed to increase the use of evidence in their daily practice.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.145-153
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this manuscript is to discuss the need for use of evidence based practice (EBP) in LTC, the current use of evidence in long term care facilities and what we know about adoption of the use of EBP in LTC. Methods: Literature review and reporting of findings from the M-TRAIN study that was a quasi-experimental design to test the effectiveness of an intervention to increase the use of EBPs for urinary incontinence and pain in 48 LTC facilities. Results: Barriers to adopting EBPs include lack of available time, lack of access to current research literature, limited critical appraisal skills, excessive literature to review, non-receptive organizational culture, limited resources, and limited decision-making authority of staff to implement change. Strategies to promote adoption of EBP include the commitment of management; the culture of the home; leadership; staff knowledge, time, and reward; and facility size, complexity, the extent that members are involved outside the facility, NH chain membership, and high level of private pay residents. Findings from the M-TRAIN add, stability of nurse leader and congruency between the leaders perception of their leadership and the staff's perception of the leadership. Conclusion: There is clear evidence of the need and the benefits to residents of LTC and to the health care system yet adoption of EBP continues to be slow and sporadic. There is also evidence for the process of establishing best evidence and many resources to find the available EBPs. The urgent need now is finding ways to best get the EBPs implemented in LTC. There is growing evidence about best methods to do this but continued research is needed. Clearly, residents in LTC deserve the best care possible and EBPs represent an important vehicle by which to do this.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.231-242
• /
• 2023

Purpose : This study aimed to identify ways to improve the quality of physical therapy research and ultimately review the current situation to improve evidence-based decision-making in physical therapy. Methods : For better evidence-based decision-making in physical therapy, researchers should review the quality assessment of articles in more detail and report their findings for valid and appropriate level of evidence and strength of recommendations. The level of evidence affects how well the findings are derived from well-designed literature. The evaluation of the evidence focuses primarily on the study design and the degree of bias that may compromise the validity of the findings. The final recommendation is based on a combination of the study design and literature quality. To uncover gems of information in each paper, a risk of bias assessment should be performed after the literature has been initially selected. Results : Researchers should consider the complexity of the intervention, appropriate grouping, and calculation of effect sizes for the intervention. Researchers conducting systematic reviews should provide a detailed description of the quality assessment performed and present a detailed analysis of their interpretation of the results. The results of systematic reviews and meta-analyses should be interpreted with caution and include a risk of bias assessment. Guidelines for the level of evidence and strength of recommendations should be developed and utilized more broadly to improve reporting practices in physical therapy. Conclusion : Researchers should be knowledgeable about the strengths and limitations of each study design and methodology. In the future, researchers will also need to improve their ability to critically evaluate their findings, given the potential for their results to influence clinical practice.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.115-125
• /
• 2022

Objectives : This study reviews whether the traditional medical thought process reflected in the Traditional Chinese Medical Treatment Plan for COVID-19 is based on existing classical texts, and examine concerns over the quality of evidence that the plan is based on. Methods : First, terminology and basic formulas composing the compound formulas in the COVID-19 TCM Treatment Plan were collected. Next, their usage in existing classical texts were searched in the medical classics database. Results : Infectious diseases similar to COVID-19 were understood as external disease due to Six Qi in the texts. Basic formulas used for treatment were those applied in Shanghan and Wenbing, among which cases where such formulas were applied in infectious diseases could be found in the classics. Conclusions : The level of evidence of the Treatment Plan suggested by various specialists could be evaluated as insufficient if we consider the literature. However, if application of such a plan could be supported institutionally, it could become a starting point for evidence generation.