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Taking control of the information jungle – try NHS evidence: ENT and audiology
Author(s) -
Jaiswal V.,
Sharp S.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
clinical otolaryngology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1749-4486
pISSN - 1749-4478
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-4486.2010.02134.x
Subject(s) - jungle , medicine , citation , library science , family medicine , history , computer science , archaeology
Otolaryngologists have specific information needs but increasingly limited time to find reliable resources. This has become an all too familiar paradox – healthcare professionals overwhelmed by information but unable to find specific information when and where they need it. Endless questions arise in the course of providing patient care and evidence based practice philosophy encourages formulating clinical questions, retrieving, appraising and applying the evidence. However, we know that level 1 and 2 evidence is sparse in our field, with systematic reviews comprising <1% of existing research. Furthermore whilst we know that it is important to work through the hierarchy of evidence from level 1 down (Fig. 1), the tendency is to begin with a bottom up approach, with Google the most obvious starting point.