Assess the Impact
To complete the cycle of practising evidence based medicine clinicians should evaluate their own performance, and this fifth step of self evaluation allows clinicians to focus on earlier steps that may need improvement in the future. Clinicians can evaluate their progress at each stage by asking some or all of the following questions:
| Was the question answerable? |
| How quickly was good evidence located? |
| How effectively appraised was the evidence? |
| Is there new information/data in the literature? |
| Was the diagnosis and treatment successful? |
| How can I improve/update my clinical decision? |
| Was the application of the new information or procedure effective? |
| Should this new information and/or clinical practice procedure continue to be included in day to day applications? |
| How could any of the 5 steps improve the next time a question is asked? |
(Source: Straus, E and Sackett D L 1998, ‘Getting research findings into practice Using research findings in clinical practice' BMJ Vol.317 p.339-342) and (Source: Johnson, C 2008, ‘Evidence-based practice in 5 simple steps' Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics Vol. 31 p.169-170)