Teachers

This is a critical appraisal tool (CAT) designed for use by beginners, who are not very familiar with various study designs or with statistics. This CAT focuses on the fundamentals and is less sophisticated than other CATs, but easier to use and a good primer for EBP beginners.

Here is a pdf copy of the slides and notes used for the second EBP Interest Group meeting conducted in March 2014 at the University of New South Wales focusing on Critical Appraisal. If you are interested in a copy of the PowerPoint slides or want to participate in the group, please contact us at eboptometry@unsw.edu.au.

Not all single-case designs have high methodological quality. The revised Risk of Bias in N of 1 Trials (RoBiN-T) scale can be used to:

• Identify experimental versus non-experimental single-case designs
  • Experimental designs are those which use variants of the withdrawal/reversal design (e.g. ABA), multiple baseline designs, alternating treatment designs and changing criterion designs.
  • Non-experimental designs include those that use a single phase or are bi-phasic only (eg. A-B), contain pre/post data only and case descriptions.

The Centre for Eye Health (CFEH) based at the University of New South Wales provides state-of-the-art eye imaging and visual system diagnostic services to the general community in one location, at no charge.

For Opthalmologists and Optometrists, there are also online cases to assist with use of EBP from a problem-based learning perspective.

• The IMAGE online newsletters are freely available and discuss a key eye condition in each issue from an Optometric perspective.

The PEDro-P is a reliable tool to rate group comparison studies (both randomised and non-randomised control trials)

The Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group is (CEVG) is part of the Cochrane Collaboration. The CEVG is an international network of individuals dedicated to promoting EBP by working to prepare, maintain and promote access to systematic reviews of interventions to treat or prevent eye diseases or visual impairment.

This website has a range of resources that may be of interest:

• A range of completed systematic reviews for a range of eye care conditions

This Medical Statistics Tutorial is an innovative resource that helps health professionals understand statistics. There is content for people just starting out and those wanting to advance their skills. Understanding statistics is a key part of interpreting data, critically appraising articles and application of research to practice.

Topics include:

• Introduction to EBM