Abstract

CARNEIRO, António Vaz. Como avaliar a investigação clínica. O exemplo da avaliação crítica de um ensaio clínico. J Port Gastrenterol. [online]. 2008, vol.15, n.1, pp.30-36. ISSN 0872-8178.

The role of science in medical practice is nowadays absolutely irreplaceable. The continuous publication of studies and clinical trials produces evidence of good quality, based on which physicians can base their decisions, even in a uncertain and risky environment. Moreover, the combination of rare and expensive resource management with professional accountability of doctors in efficacious and cost-effective care creates new rational needs and demands. Nowadays, scientific research from clinical studies can be looked upon from three standpoints of view (as opposed from 30 years ago): 1) there is a much bigger number of studies; 2) their quality is higher and 3) they can be located easily (through search of electronic databases). So the question is not “Is there an answer to my questions?” (most of the time the answer will be yes), but “Are these data I locate reliable?”. For these (and other) reasons, is absolutely mandatory that doctors know how to critically appraisal the clinical evidence from studies.In this paper we present a scheme of critical appraisal of clinical trials, as an example of evaluation of clinical research.

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