Clinical Evidence: a useful tool for promoting evidence-based practice?
BACKGROUND
Research has shown that many healthcare professionals have problems with guidelines as they would prefer to be given all relevant information relevant to decision-making rather than being told what they should do. This study assesses doctors' judgement of the validity, relevance, clarity and usability of the Italian translation of Clinical Evidence (CE) after its free distribution launched by the Italian Ministry of Health.


METHODS
Opinions elicited using a standardised questionnaire delivered either by mail or during educational or professional meetings.


RESULTS
Twenty percent (n = 1350) doctors participated the study. Most of them found CE's content valid, useful and relevant for their clinical practice, and said CE can foster communications among clinicians, particularly among GPs and specialists. Hospital doctors (63%) more often than GPs (48%) read the detailed presentation of individual chapters. Twenty-nine percent said CE brought changes in their clinical practice. Doctors appreciated CE's nature of an evidence-based information compendium and would have not preferred a collection of practice guidelines.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the pilot initiative launched by the Italian Ministry of Health seems to have been well received and to support the subsequent decision to make the Italian edition of Clinical Evidence concise available to all doctors practising in the country. Local implementation initiatives should be warranted to favour doctor's use of CE.
Formoso
Giulio
G
Centro per la Valutazione della Efficacia della Assistenza Sanitaria (CeVEAS), Modena, Italy. g.formoso@ausl.mo.it
Moja
Lorenzo
L
Nonino
Francesco
F
Dri
Pietro
P
Addis
Antonio
A
Martini
Nello
N
Liberati
Alessandro
A
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D007558:Italy; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D010820:Physicians / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D011635:Public Health Administration; D012014:Reference Books, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires