Translations of the "Evidence-Based Medicine" concept in different languages: is it time for international standardisation?
Although the concept of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) is quite popular among English speaking physicians, it still needs to be adopted by an overwhelming majority of health care professionals in countries where English is not familiar. Thus, this concept can be translated in many different, and potentially misleading, ways. This is regrettable because the concept is, at least potentially, a very useful one. As an illustration, I have compiled some of the French translations of EBM that are currently in use in French speaking countries, and indicated briefly how most of these translations (except for one) are bound to be misleading. Many of these misleading translations currently in use strongly suggest that it is time for an international standardisation of the translations of EBM in different languages.
Watine
Joseph
J
Member of the working group "Clinical Practice Guidelines" of the EFCC, and chairman of the working group "Clinical Practice Guidelines and Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine" of the Société Française de Biologie Clinique; Laboratoire de biologie polyvalente, Hôpital Bourran, Rodez, France. watine61@hotmail.com
D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D038622:Internationality; D007802:Language; D012015:Reference Standards; D014177:Translations