The importance of causal relationships in medicine and health care -- Study designs which can demostrate and test causation -- The results obtained from studies of causation -- Selection of subjects for study -- Error and bias in observation -- Confounding -- Chance variation -- Combining results from several studies: systematic review and meta-analysis -- The diagnosis of causation -- Critical appraisal of a randomized clinical trial -- Critical appraisal of a randomized trial of a preventive agent -- Critical appraisal of a prospective cohort study -- Critical appraisal of a retrospective cohort study -- Critical appraisal of a matched case-control study -- Critical appraisal of a large population-based case-control study
Summary
Critical appraisal is now accepted as central to the development of rational health care and evidence-based medicine, by applying it to questions of aetiology, clinical therapy, and health care management. The reader will learn how to assess the strengths and weaknesses of new studies, and how to conduct their own studies
