Critical Appraisal Skills Day
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Those in their first term on the course will be looking at the critical appraisal skills relating to randomised controlled trials.
Those more experienced in critical appraisal or in their second term will be appraising qualitative research and systematic reviews in a masterclass.
"Basics" Group
You will need to read two papers before the session. You will need a
critical appraisal form to fill in for each paper.
Sharp DM et al. BJGP, 1997, 47, 150-155. Global measures of outcome in a
controlled comparison of pharmacological and psychological treatment of panic
disorder and agoraphobia in primary care.
Macfarlane J et al. BMJ, 2002, 324, 91-93. Reducing antibiotic use for acute
bronchitis in primary care: blinded, randomised controlled trial of patient
information leaflet.
It is essential you work through these BEFORE the session; for
once you wont be able to do it on the sly in the back row!
"Masterclass" Group
Second-termers will be looking at how to critically appraise systematic reviews and qualitative research.
Systematic Reviews
First of all download the CASP appraisal tool for Systematic Reviews. It will give you 10 questions to help you make sense of reviews.
http://www.phru.nhs.uk/casp/reviews.pdf
Now get BMJ
2002;324:329. Systematic review of randomised controlled trials of over the
counter cough medicines for acute cough in adults, by Knut Schroeder
You can either download it in PDF http://bmj.com/cgi/reprint/324/7333/329.pdf or plain version http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7333/329 (PDF files are slower to download but are easier to print out and read).
Use the CASP tool to appraise the paper - we'll go over it in detail in the teaching session.
Qualitative Research
First read Michael's Guide to Qualitative Research.
Now download the CASP appraisal tool for Qualitative Research. This gives you 10 questions to help you make sense of qualitative research. http://www.phru.nhs.uk/casp/qualitative.pdf
The paper that we will appraise is:
Barriers to accurate diagnosis and effective management of heart failure in primary care: qualitative study, Ahmet Fuat, A Pali, S Hungin, and Jeremy James Murphy, BMJ 2003; 326: 196.
Print off and use one of these two versions:
html version: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/326/7382/196
pdf version: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/326/7382/196
(pdf files can be slower to download but are easier to print out and read).
Use the CASP tool to analyse the paper.
Don't use the version that is in the paper BMJ - it is an abridged version and not detailed enough to appraise easily.
Do have a go at appraising the paper before the workshop - there won't be time to read it for the first time on the day itself.
It is really important that you read through and try to appraise the papers before the teaching session. There won't be time to do it on the day.
NB If you have any problem downloading any of the files, please e-mail Michael
Written by: Michael Harris
Last update: 29 August 2007