Positive Health Online

Abstract

DAGENAIS and c-authors, Chalmers Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada,  SDagenais@cheo.on.ca, have produced a critical appraisal of clinical studies in Chinese herbal medicine.

Abstract: The use of complementary and alternative medicine is currently widespread and appears to be growing. Therefore the need for quality research in this area is reinforced. Much of this research consists of clinical studies aimed primarily at clinicians, yet challenges arising from poor methodological quality will occur when interpreting study findings and their implications. For clinicians to be effective consumers of the scientific literature, familiarization with the principles of evidence-based medicine is essential. The aim of this review was to introduce clinicians to the concept of critical appraisal of clinical studies and foster critical thinking when reading research articles in order to best evaluate and incorporate findings into their daily practice. Topics discussed include: (1) fundamentals of evidence-based medicine; (2) types of clinical studies; (3) hierarchy of evidence; (4) Consolidated Standard of Randomized Trials (CONSORT) statement to evaluate the quality of reporting in randomized controlled trials; (5) methodological quality rating scales for randomized controlled trials; and (6) issues specific to evaluating studies of Chinese herbal medicine.

Background

Methodology

Results

Conclusion

References

Dagenais S, Tricco AC, Bian Z-X, Huang WH, Moher D. Critical appraisal of clinical studies in Chinese herbal medicine. Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao/Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine 4 (5): 455-466, Sep 2006.