Physical Therapy Resources

Evidenced-based practice (EBP) is applying or translating research findings in our daily patient care practices and clinical decision-making.

It is the framework for your clinical decision-making process.

It is the integration of:

• your knowledge, skills, and past experience (Clinical Expertise);
• the unique preferences, concerns and expectations of your patient (Patient Characteristics); and
• valid and clinically relevant research (Best Evidence).

EVIDENCE BASED PYRAMID - HIERARCHY OF EVIDENCE

As you move up the pyramid, the study designs are more rigorous and are less biased.

What is "the best available evidence"? The hierarchy of evidence is a core principal of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) and attempts to address this question.

The levels of evidence pyramid provides a way to visualize both the quality of evidence and the amount of evidence available. 

As you move up the pyramid, the study designs are more rigorous and are less biased.

Learn More

Prefer a video? Watch this tutorial What is the Hierarchy of evidence for medical research?

When making clinical decisions it's important to consider the 5 A's:

• Assess: Review the Situation
• Ask: Define the clinical problem as a question
• Acquire: Select resources, design a strategy, and search for the answer
• Appraise: Summarize the evidence yield
• Apply: Apply the evidence