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The general purpose of Evidence-Based Nursing is to select from the health related literature those articles reporting studies and reviews that warrant immediate attention by nurses attempting to keep pace with important advances in their profession. These articles are summarised in “value added” abstracts and commented on by clinical experts. The specific purposes of Evidence-Based Nursing are:
To identify, using predefined criteria, the best quantitative and qualitative original and review articles on the meaning, cause, course, assessment, prevention, treatment, or economics of health problems managed by nurses and on quality assurance
To summarise this literature in the form of “structured abstracts” that describe the question, methods, results, and evidence-based conclusions of studies in a reproducible and accurate fashion
To provide brief, highly expert comment on the context of each article, its methods, and clinical applications that its findings warrant
To disseminate the summaries in a timely fashion to nurses.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Publishing Company and the BMJ Publishing Group publish Evidence-Based Nursing under the editorship of Dr Alba DiCenso and Dr Donna Ciliska at McMaster University in Canada and Dr Nicky Cullum at the University of York in the UK. The Health Information Research Unit (HIRU) of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University hosts the editorial office for the production of the abstracts and commissioning of commentaries. Dr Brian Haynes acts as coordinating editor to ensure that methods and procedures are consistent with other evidence-based journals prepared by HIRU.
Criteria for selection and review of articles for abstracting
All articles in a journal issue are considered for abstracting if they meet these criteria:
BASIC CRITERIA
Original or review articles
In English
Quantitative or qualitative studies
About individuals of any age group
About topics that are important to the clinical practice of nurses in any setting.
QUANTITATIVE STUDIES
Studies of prevention or treatment must meet these additional criteria:
Random allocation of participants to comparison groups
Follow up (end point assessment) of at least 80% of those entering the investigation
Outcome measure of known or probable clinical importance
Analysis consistent with study design.
Studies of assessment (screening or diagnosis) must meet these additional criteria:
Clearly identified comparison groups, at least one of which is free of the disorder or condition
Interpretation of diagnostic standard without knowledge of test result
Interpretation of test without knowledge of diagnostic standard result
Objective diagnostic (gold) standard (eg, central venous pressure) or current clinical standard for diagnosis (eg, sphygmomanometer reading for hypertension), preferably with documentation of reproducible criteria for subjectively interpreted diagnostic standard (eg, report of statistically significant measure of agreement among observers)
Analysis consistent with study design.
Studies of prognosis must meet these additional criteria:
Inception cohort (first onset or assembled at a uniform point in the development of a condition or disease) of individuals, all initially free of the outcome of interest
Follow up of at least 80% of participants until the occurrence of a major study end point or to the end of the study
Analysis consistent with study design.
Studies of causation must meet these additional criteria:
Clearly identified comparison group for those at risk of, or having, the outcome of interest (ie, randomised, quasi randomised, or non-randomised controlled trial; cohort analytic study with case by case matching or statistical adjustment to create comparable groups; case control study)
Blinding of observers of outcome to exposure (criterion assumed to be met if outcome is objective, eg, all cause mortality, self administered psychometric test)
Blinding of observers of exposure to outcomes for case control studies or blinding of subjects to exposure for all other study designs
Analysis consistent with study design.
Studies of quality assurance must meet these additional criteria:
Random allocation of participants or units to comparison groups
Follow up of at least 80% of participants
Outcome measure of known or probable clinical or educational importance
Analysis consistent with study design.
Studies of the economics of healthcare programmes or interventions must meet these additional criteria:
The economic question must compare alternative courses of action
Alternative diagnostic or therapeutic services or quality assurance activities must be compared on the basis of both the outcomes produced (effectiveness) and resources consumed (costs)
Evidence of effectiveness must be from a study (or studies) that meets the criteria for treatment, assessment, quality assurance, or a review article
Results should be presented in terms of the incremental or additional costs and outcomes of one intervention over another
Where there is uncertainty in the estimates or imprecision in the measurement, a sensitivity analysis should be done.
Clinical prediction guides must meet these additional criteria:
The guide must be generated in 1 set of patients (training set) and validated in an independent set of patients (test set) and must also meet the above noted criteria for treatment, assessment, prognosis, or causation.
Review articles must meet these additional criteria:
A clear statement of the clinical topic being reviewed
A clear description of the sources and methods for identifying articles
Specification of the inclusion and exclusion criteria for selecting articles for detailed review
At least 1 article in the review must meet the above noted criteria for treatment, assessment, prognosis, causation, quality improvement, or economics of health care programmes.
QUALITATIVE STUDIES
Research topic or question specified
Appropriate research design to address question
Research method described and substantiated
Study participants and context described
Information gathering and analysis appropriate
Data interpretation and conclusions consistent with data analysis.
These criteria are subject to modification if, for example, it becomes feasible to apply higher standards that increase the validity and applicability of studies for clinical practice. The objective of Evidence-Based Nursing is to abstract only the very best literature, consistent with a reasonable number of articles “making it through the filter”.
Articles meeting the criteria set out above are abstracted according to the procedure for more informative abstracts,1 with these modifications: abstracts are approximately 450 words in length; and each abstract is reviewed by an expert in the content area covered by the article. This expert writes a commentary in which she or he compares the study findings to previous research findings, identifies any important methodological problems that affect interpretation of the study results, and offers recommendations for clinical application. The author of the article is given an opportunity to review the abstract and commentary before publication.
In the last issue of each year, we will publish a list of articles that passed all criteria but were not abstracted because, in the judgment of the editors, their findings were less applicable to nursing practice.
Journals reviewed for this issue
Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand
Acta Psychiatr Scand
Addiction
Age Ageing
Am J Cardiol
Am J Epidemiol
Am J Gastroenterol
Am J Med
Am J Obstet Gynecol
Am J Psychiatry
Am J Public Health
Am J Respir Crit Care Med
Am J Surg
Am Psychol
Ann Emerg Med
Ann Intern Med
Ann Med
Ann Surg
ANS Adv Nurs Sci
Appl Nurs Res
Arch Dis Child
Arch Fam Med
Arch Gen Psychiatry
Arch Intern Med
Arch Neurol
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med
Arch Surg
Arthritis Rheum
Aust NZ J Psychiatry
Behav Res Ther
Birth
BMJ
Br J Clin Psychol
Br J Gen Pract
Br J Obstet Gynaecol
Br J Psychiatry
Br J Rheumatol
Br J Surg
CMAJ
Can J Cardiol
Can J Gastroenterol
Can J Nurs Res
Can J Psychiatry
Can J Public Health
Cancer Nurs
Chest
Circulation
Clin Invest Med
Clin Nurs Res
Clin Pediatr
Clin Psychology
Cochrane Library
Cognitive Therapy and Research
Crit Care Med
Diabet Med
Diabetes Care
Fam Plann Perspect
Fertil Steril
Gastroenterology
Gen Hosp Psychiatry
Gut
Health Educ Behav
Health Psychol
Heart
Heart Lung
Hypertension
Image J Nurs Sch
Int J Eat Disord
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry
JAMA
J Abnorm Child Psychol
J Abnorm Psychol
J Adv Nurs
J Affect Disord
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
J Am Board Fam Pract
J Am Coll Cardiol
J Am Coll Surg
J Am Geriatr Soc
J Am Med Informatic Assoc
J Autism Dev Disord
J Child Psychol Psychiatry
J Clin Epidemiol
J Clin Exp Neuropsychol
J Clin Nurs
J Clin Psychiatry
J Clin Psychopharmacol
J Consult Clin Psychol
J Counseling Psychology
J Epidemiol Community Health
J Fam Pract
J Gen Intern Med
J Infect Dis
J Intern Med
J Nerv Ment Dis
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci
J Pediatr
J Pediatr Nurs
J Pediatr Oncol Nurs
J Vasc Surg
Lancet
Med Care
Med J Aust
Midwifery
N Engl J Med
Neonatal Netw
Neurology
Nurs Res
Obstet Gynecol
Pain
Patient Educ Couns
Pediatrics
Psychiatr Serv
Psychiatry Interpersonal and Biological Processes
Psychol Aging
Psychol Bull
Psychol Med
Psychological Assessment
Psychopharmacol Bull
Psychosom Med
Public Health Nurs
Quality in Health Care
Qual Health Res
Res Nurs Health
Schizophr Bull
Schizophr Res
Spine
Stroke
Surgery
Thorax
West J Nurs Res