[Scientific evidence-based cardiology: the principles and practice].
Every clinical cardiologist, no matter what the clinical work (invasive or non-invasive), has to face several problems concerning clinical knowledge and medical information in everyday practice. Diagnostic and therapeutic advances in cardiology are occurring at an increasing pace and every cardiologist responsible for patient care in hospitals, clinics or emergency rooms needs to be up-to-date in order to provide the best possible medical care. On the other hand, society is increasingly making doctors accountable for the provision of good quality care in a cost-effective way. In the context of scarce resources, this situation requires a rigorous and rational approach by the individual cardiologist. These apparent contradictions can be solved by practicing evidence-based cardiology (EBC). This review introduces the concept of EBC, its principles, practice, and methodological steps: 1) formulation of a structured clinical activity; 2) scientific evidence; 3) critical appraisal of this evidence using explicit methods; and 4) synthesis and practical application of this evidence. In this sense, EBC arises from the patient, and after the best possible scientific evidence is selected, it is applied to the individual case. EBC allows the individual cardiologist to keep up with the medical literature while improving reading habits and the form in which relevant clinical information is selected. It also increases confidence in the clinical decisions, reducing practice variation as well as improving doctor-patient communication. Lastly EBC can be used as a powerful tool for pre, post and continuous medical education.
Carneiro
A V
AV
Centro de Estudos de Medicina Baseada na Evidência, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa.
D002309:Cardiology / Q000639:trends; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D016239:MEDLINE; D012106:Research