How to Read the Literature

See Dr. Cuddy's presentation:

Evaluating Literature Actively

For further information, consult these. . .

Literature Review References

• Elenbaas, RM et al. Evaluating the medical literature.
  • Part 1: Abstract, introduction, methods. Ann Emerg Med 1983;12:549-55.
  • Part 2: Statistical analysis. Ann Emerg Med 1983;12:610-20.
  • Part 3: Results and discussion. Ann Emerg Med 1983;12:679-86.
• Evidence-based medicine working group. Users' guides to the medical literature.
  • I. How to get started. JAMA 1993;270;2093-2095
  • II. How to use an article about therapy or prevention. A. Are the results of the study valid? JAMA 1993;270:2598-2601
  • II. How to use an article about therapy or prevention. B. What were the results and will they help me in caring for my patients? JAMA 1994;271:59-63
  • III. How to use an article about a diagnostic test. A. Are the results of the study valid? JAMA 1994;271:389-391
  • III. How to use an article about a diagnostic test. B. What are the results and will they help me in caring for my patients? JAMA 1994;271:703-707
  • IV. How to use an article about harm. JAMA 1994;271:1615-1619
  • V. How to use an article about prognosis. JAMA 1994;272:234-237
  • VI. How to use an overview. JAMA 1994;272:1367-1371
  • VII. How to use a clinical decision analysis. A. Are the results of the study valid? JAMA 1995;273:1292-1295
  • VII. How to use a clinical decision analysis. B. What are the results and will they help me in caring for my patients? JAMA 1995;273:1610-1613
  • VIII. How to use clinical practice guidelines. A. Are the recommendations valid? JAMA 1995;274:570-574
  • VIII. How to use clinical practice guidelines. B. What are the recommendations and will they help you in caring for your patients? JAMA 1995;274:1630-1632
  • IX. A method for grading health care recommendations. JAMA 1995;274:1800-1804
  • X. How to use an article reporting variations in the outcomes of health services. JAMA 1996;275:554-558.
  • XI. How to use an article about a clinical utilization review. JAMA 1996;275:1435-1439.
  See also:
  • JAMA 1994;272(2): 79-174 Peer Review Issue: instructive discussion throughout

Selected Books (All in UMKC Health Sciences Library)

• Riegelman RK, Hirsch RP. Studying a study and testing a test. How to read the medical literature. Boston:Little, Brown and Company, 2nd edition, 1989.
• Gehlbach SH. Interpreting the medical literature. Practical epidemiology for clinicians. New York:Macmilliam Publishing Company, 2nd Edition, 1988
• Fletcher RH, Fletcher SW, Wagner EH. Clinical epidemiology. The essentials. Baltimore:Williams and Wilkins, 2nd Edition, 1988
• Sackett DL, Haynes RB, Guyatt GH, Tugwell P. Clinical epidemiology: A basic science for Clinical medicine. 2nd. ed., Boston, MA: Little,Brown & C; 1991.

Biostatistics - Books (All in UMKC Health Sciences Library)

• Ingelfinger JA, Mosteller F, Thibodeau LA, Ware JH. Biostatistics in clinical medicine. New York:Macmilliam, 2nd Edition, 1987.
• Glantz SA. Primer of biostatistics. McGraw Hill, 3rd edition, 1991
• Kahn HA, Sempos CT. Statistical methods in epidemiology. Oxford University Press:New York, 1989.

Biostatistics - Shareware Software

• Dallal GE. Stat-Sak (Ver 2.60B2). General purpose statistics program.
• Dallal GE. PC-SIZE (Ver 2.13). Sample size and power calculations.

And remember. . .

"the plural of anecdote is not data."
(Unattributed quotation; can anyone name that source?

http://research.med.umkc.edu/teams/cml/htread.html
updated 2/97 by pfannenstiel@cctr.umkc.edu