Provided by the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, CATmaker is a software tool which helps you create Critically Appraised Topics, or CATs, for the key articles you encounter about Therapy, Diagnosis, Prognosis, Aetiology/Harm and Systematic Reviews of Therapy.
Helpful in determining what type of study is being described in an article, especially when the author(s) don't spell it out for readers.
Choosing Which Papers To Appraise
Once you have found an article, examine the quality of the material. Here are some things to consider when getting started with appraising.
Relevance
What clinical question were the authors addressing?
Validity
What were the results?
Usefulness
Can you apply this evidence to your patient?
Appraising Your Chosen Article
Find the following:
What journal published the study?
Who are the authors?
What are their affiliations?
Who funded the study?
Check the first Table. Is it self-explanatory? Relevant?
Look at the methodology and study design. This is the most important- if the study design is flawed, the analysis doesn't matter. Look for the following:
Population
Type of study
Unit of observation
Measuring techniques
Sample Size
Review the results/discussion including:
Implication- Do the results indicate changing practice? Raise further questions? Are they in accord with other work? Are they plausible?
