The philosophy of evidence-based medicine / Jeremy Howick, with a foreword by Paul Glasziou.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Howick, Jeremy.

Contributor:

Samuel Bellet Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evidence-based medicine.

Medicine--Philosophy.

Medicine.

Evidence-Based Medicine.

Philosophy, Medical.

Medical Subjects:

Evidence-Based Medicine.

Philosophy, Medical.

Physical Description:

xiv, 229 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Chichester, West Sussex, UK : Wiley-Blackwell, BMJ Books, 2011.

Summary:

The controversy surrounding the significance of evidence based medicine (EBM) in clinical practice, far from abating, has grown and developed a momentum of its own.

This book examines the arguments for and against EBM being a new paradigm in medicine, and puts together the most coherent and compelling case as to how and why its rigor should be applied to every facet of patient care; discussing the questions often raised by critics of evidence based medicine:

Why should EBM dominate health care, from daily medical practice to funding treatments?

Is it truly objective?

Do we need randomized trials for treatments that are universally accepted as effective?

Does EBM serve the needs of individual patients?

What part do basic sciences play in EBM?

Are randomized trials more important than clinical experts?

Students of evidence-based, medicine, researchers and those studying the philosophy of science or medicine will find this detailed treatise an invaluable reference to the development of EBM, from recognition of the validity of randomized controlled trials to today's more patient centred approach. Book jacket.

Contents:

The philosophy of evidence-based medicine

What is EBM?

What is good evidence for a clinical decision?

Ruling out plausible rival hypotheses and confounding factors : a method

Resolving the paradox of effectiveness : when do observational studies offer the same degree of evidential support as randomized trials?

Questioning double blinding as a universal methodological virtue of clinical trials : resolving the Philip's paradox

Placebo controls : problematic and misleading baseline measures of effectiveness

Questioning the methodological superiority of "placebo" over "active" controlled trials

Examining the paradox that traditional roles for mechanistic reasoning and expert

Judgment have been up-ended by EBM

A qualified defence of the EBM stance on mechanistic reasoning

Knowledge that versus knowledge how : situating the EBM position on expert clinical judgment

Moving EBM forward.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Samuel Bellet Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781405196673

140519667X

OCLC:

680587238