TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceptions and Competence in Evidence-Based Medicine
T2 - A Survey of the American Urological Association Membership
AU - Dahm, Philipp
AU - Poolman, Rudolf W.
AU - Bhandari, Mohit
AU - Fesperman, Susan F.
AU - Baum, Jan
AU - Kosiak, Beth
AU - Carrick, Todd
AU - Preminger, Glenn M.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2009/2
Y1 - 2009/2
N2 - Purpose: We investigated the attitudes and opinions of urologists toward evidence-based medicine to help guide future efforts of the American Urological Association and other organizations vested in the education and training of urologists. Materials and Methods: From August to November 2006 we performed a mail survey of a random sample of 2,000 members of the American Urological Association. Questions in the survey addressed the role of evidence-based medicine in urology, participants' self-assessed understanding of evidence-based medicine related terminology, their familiarity with and use of web based evidence-based medicine resources, as well as their evidence-based medicine competence based on their understanding of core concepts such as randomization and blinding. Results: A total of 889 respondents completed the survey resulting in a response rate of 45%. There was widespread agreement that practicing evidence-based medicine improves patient care (median score 8; IQR 7, 10) and that every urologist should be familiar with critical appraisal techniques (median score 9; IQR 8, 10). The percentage of respondents who indicated that they "understand and could explain to others" the terms number needed to treat, power and level of evidence was 42%, 29% and 18%, respectively. The American Urological Association Guidelines were used regularly by 35% and on occasion by 51% of respondents. Of the participants 44% were unaware of the PubMed® search engine and only 14% used it regularly, while 76% were unaware of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and only 8% had ever used it. The mean evidence-based medicine competence score for all respondents was 67.2% ± 17.0%. Conclusions: The findings of this survey confirm that urologists have a favorable attitude toward evidence-based medicine. However, understanding of evidence-based medicine terminology, concepts and use of related resources among American Urological Association members leaves room for improvement. Increased efforts to promote an understanding of evidence-based medicine through workshops, publications and web based resources specifically for a urological audience appear indicated.
AB - Purpose: We investigated the attitudes and opinions of urologists toward evidence-based medicine to help guide future efforts of the American Urological Association and other organizations vested in the education and training of urologists. Materials and Methods: From August to November 2006 we performed a mail survey of a random sample of 2,000 members of the American Urological Association. Questions in the survey addressed the role of evidence-based medicine in urology, participants' self-assessed understanding of evidence-based medicine related terminology, their familiarity with and use of web based evidence-based medicine resources, as well as their evidence-based medicine competence based on their understanding of core concepts such as randomization and blinding. Results: A total of 889 respondents completed the survey resulting in a response rate of 45%. There was widespread agreement that practicing evidence-based medicine improves patient care (median score 8; IQR 7, 10) and that every urologist should be familiar with critical appraisal techniques (median score 9; IQR 8, 10). The percentage of respondents who indicated that they "understand and could explain to others" the terms number needed to treat, power and level of evidence was 42%, 29% and 18%, respectively. The American Urological Association Guidelines were used regularly by 35% and on occasion by 51% of respondents. Of the participants 44% were unaware of the PubMed® search engine and only 14% used it regularly, while 76% were unaware of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and only 8% had ever used it. The mean evidence-based medicine competence score for all respondents was 67.2% ± 17.0%. Conclusions: The findings of this survey confirm that urologists have a favorable attitude toward evidence-based medicine. However, understanding of evidence-based medicine terminology, concepts and use of related resources among American Urological Association members leaves room for improvement. Increased efforts to promote an understanding of evidence-based medicine through workshops, publications and web based resources specifically for a urological audience appear indicated.
KW - attitude of health personnel
KW - clinical competence
KW - evidence-based medicine
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U2 - 10.1016/j.juro.2008.10.031
DO - 10.1016/j.juro.2008.10.031
M3 - Article
C2 - 19091333
AN - SCOPUS:58149191218
SN - 0022-5347
VL - 181
SP - 767
EP - 777
JO - Journal of Urology
JF - Journal of Urology
IS - 2
ER -