Seriously? Yay! I'm so excited!

#evidencebasedpractice #evidencebased #scientificbias

Oh wow. I love this.

The evidence pyramid is important to keep in mind when evaluating health claims!

Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk. ☺️ (END)

Image from: Roulet, J-F. (2017). How to set up, conduct and report a scientific study. STOMATOLOGY EDU JOURNAL. 4. 90-101. 10.25241/stomaeduj.2017.4(2).art.1.

Up at the very top is the systematic review with meta-analysis. These types of studies compile and analyze a whole lot of data from many research studies.

If those compiled research studies are randomized controlled trials, that is considered the GOLD-STANDARD for evidence-based practice. (9 of 10)

Then we have our randomized controlled trials. These are experimental studies. We are no longer just observing. We are now manipulating variables carefully and looking for cause and effect. (8 of 10)

Then we have case-control studies and cohort studies, which are also observational study designs. They can provide information about associations (and can inform possible causation), providing an even higher level of evidence than the cross-sectional studies. (7 of 10)

Moving up further, we find the cross-sectional study, an observational study design which provides a snapshot of associations between events that are occurring during the same pre-defined period of time. We can find prevalence here. (6 of 10)

As we move up, we find the case report or case series. This type of study provides information about 1 to 10(ish) people who have a particular condition or a receiving a novel therapeutic, providing just a little bit more evidence for clinical or real-world application. (5 of 10)

After that, we look at things like the bench (in vitro, as opposed to in vivo) research and the animal research that gets done to find a little more evidence for clinical application.

But still, we're pretty close to the bottom when it comes to evaluating health claims. (4 of 10)

We travel up the evidence pyramid accordingly, starting at the lowest level.

An opinion piece or a commentary written by experts in their field is still the very bottom of the evidence pyramid. (3 of 10)

In order to evaluate evidence, we use the pyramid above. The higher up the pyramid you go, the less scientific bias there is. At the top is the highest amount of evidence and the least amount of bias.

So, you have to look at what type of research study has been done. (2 of 10)

Sounds like a good plan! 👍

Lol. Thanks. I like yours too. I've lately become a personal tutor for my son who's in high school chemistry.

Thanks. I was on Twitter and had some success there. But I quit when it changed ownership and didn't do social media for a while. Hopeful for some good connections here. :-)

You're saying that like you're some sort of card-carrying epidemiologist or something. 😜

True enough.

Lol.