What Is Evidence Based Medicine?

Evidence based medicine refers to an approach to health care based on the scientific method. According to David Sackett, M.D., practitioners of evidence based medicine aim to make careful decisions about patient care by integrating the best available scientific research with clinical expertise and patient values.

History

The use of the scientific method to evaluate medical claims of efficacy and effectiveness dates back at least to ancient Greece, though the term "evidence based" first emerged in the medical literature in a 1992 article in "Journal of the American Medical Association."

Features

An online tutorial hosted by University of North Carolina describes several features of evidence based medicine, including commitment to the scientific method, the formulation of a clinical problem, searching the scientific literature, evaluating research for relevance and validity, and implementing an informed treatment plan in the context of the patient's values.

Varieties

David Eddy, Ph.D., M.D., proposed two kinds of evidence based medicine: evidence based guidelines--broad rules that all practitioners should follow--and evidence based decision making--the process by which an individual practitioner decides on a treatment plan.

Significance

Evidence based medicine provides a gold standard for health care, and marginalizes medical practices that have not withstood scientific scrutiny. The University of North Carolina's evidence based medicine tutorial notes that this approach to evaluating evidence changes the decisions that practitioners make regarding patient care.

Criticism

Steven Novella, M.D. suggested in 2010 that evidence based practitioners additionally consider the plausibility of a treatment in evaluating evidence for its efficacy, within the context of prior scientific findings and knowledge.