Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2002 Jun 11;166(12):1525-30.

A qualitative study of evidence in primary care: what the practitioners are saying

Wayne Putnam  1 , Peter L Twohig, Frederick I Burge, Lois A Jackson, Jafna L Cox
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

A qualitative study of evidence in primary care: what the practitioners are saying

Wayne Putnam et al. CMAJ. .

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the impact of evidence-based medicine in primary care. Our objective was to explore the influence of evidence on day-to-day family practice, with specific reference to cardiovascular disease.

Methods: A total of 9 focus groups were conducted in rural, semi-urban and urban settings in Nova Scotia. The participants were 50 family physicians who had practised in their communities for more than 1 year and who were treating patients with cardiovascular disease.

Findings: Two major themes emerged: evidence in the clinical encounter and the culture of evidence. The family physicians reported thinking about evidence during the clinical encounter but still situated that evidence within the specific context of their patients and their communities. They appreciated evidence that had been appraised, summarized and published as a guideline by an independent national organization. Evidence remained in the forefront of consciousness for a limited time frame. Local specialists, trusted because of their previous successes with shared patient care, were important sources and interpreters of evidence.

Interpretation: Day-to-day family practice offers both obstacles and opportunities for the application of evidence. Although evidence is an important part of clinical practice, it is not absolute and is considered along with many other factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Box 1
Box 1
Box 2
Box 2
Box 3
Box 3
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. Evidence-based medicine: a new approach to teaching the practice of medicine. JAMA 1992;268(17):2420-5. - PubMed
    1. van Weel CV, Knottnerus JA. Evidence-based interventions and comprehensive treatment. Lancet 1999;353:916-8. - PubMed
    1. Rosser WW. Application of evidence from randomised controlled trials to general practice. Lancet 1999;353:661-4. - PubMed
    1. Culpepper L, Gilbert TT. Evidence and ethics. Lancet 1999;353:829-31. - PubMed
    1. Mant D. Can randomised trials inform clinical decisions about individual patients? Lancet 1999;353:743-6. - PubMed

Publication types