Oxford Handbook of Key Clinical Evidence

TheOxford Handbook of Key Clinical Evidenceprovides an alternative to the burgeoning repositories of trial data for students, trainees, and researchers looking for the key evidence affecting medical practice. Recognizing the growing importance of evidence-based medicine (EBM) to both the study and the practice of medicine and surgery, the editors have aimed to provide a quick-reference text that presents the key data, facts, and evidence informing medical and surgical practice on a daily basis. Introductory chapters give the "uninitiated" reader a firm footing in the history of EVM and its current importance within medical science. Readers are introduced to the current statistical methods and tools that are needed to analyze and critically assess trial data, providing a key for the terms and statistical methods encountered in the book and within medical research as a whole. Leading figures in the specialties have selected and summarized the most important modern trials, creating a two-page format for each study which distills the key information. Highlighted boxes identify the study type and evidence-level attained, while analysis of the key message and impacts of the trial firmly place the evidence into a practical setting for the reader. Key study features and results are examined, while the difficulties or problems associated with the trials are outlined. This is essential reading for all medics with an interest in the fundamental evidence underpinning modern practice.