How to perform a critically appraised topic: part 2, appraise, evaluate, generate, and recommend.
OBJECTIVE
This article continues the discussion of a critically appraised topic started in Part 1. A critically appraised topic is a practical tool for learning and applying critical appraisal skills. This article outlines steps 4-7 involved in performing a critically appraised topic for studies of diagnostic tests: Appraise, Appraise the literature; Evaluate, evaluate the strength of the evidence from the literature; Generate, generate graphs of conditional probability; and Recommend, draw conclusions and make recommendations.


CONCLUSIONS
For steps 4-7 of performing a critically appraised topic, the main study results are summarized and translated into clinically useful measures of accuracy, efficacy, or risk.
Department of Radiology, Division of Cardiothoracic Radiology, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, 48109-5302, USA. ainekell@med.umich.edu
Aine Marie
AM
Kelly
Paul
P
Cronin
D002983:Clinical Competence; D003657:Decision Making; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D008490:Medical Informatics; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012107:Research Design; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D013223:Statistics as Topic