Table 2.
Knowledge items with percentage of responses
| Item | Description | Correct n (%) |
Unsure n (%) |
Wrong n (%) |
| K1 | Evidence-based medicine involves the process of critically appraising research findings as the basis for clinical decisions. | 218 (96.9) | 7 (3.1) | – |
| K2 | Evidence-based medicine focuses on the best currently available research without considering clinical experience. | 68 (30.2) | 69 (30.7) | 88 (39.1) |
| K3 | Evidence-based medicine is suitable for making decisions about the care of patients rather than for policymaking. | 136 (60.4) | 60 (26.7) | 29 (12.9) |
| K4 | Patients’ preferences should be prioritised over clinicians’ preferences in making clinical decisions. | 60 (26.7) | 80 (35.6) | 85 (37.8) |
| K5 | Evidence-based medicine improves clinical management by using evidence from meta-analysis only. | 74 (32.9) | 68 (30.2) | 83 (36.9) |
| K6 | Evidence-based medicine does not help to promote self-directed learning. | 19 (8.4) | 34 (15.1) | 172 (76.4) |
| K7 | Meta-analysis is superior to case–control studies in evidence-based medicine. | 102 (45.3) | 95 (42.2) | 28 (12.4) |
| K8 | Four essential components structured in the PICO format (Patient or problem, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome) will make a good clinical question. | 183 (81.3) | 38 (16.9) | 4 (1.8) |
| K9 | Evidence-based medicine improves clinicians’ understanding of research methodology. | 200 (88.9) | 18 (8.0) | 7 (3.1) |
| K10 | Clinicians who practise evidence-based medicine become less critical in using data in systematic reviews. | 47 (20.9) | 85 (37.8) | 93 (41.3) |
| K11 | Evidence-based medicine can be practised in situations where there is doubt about any aspect of clinical management. | 189 (84.0) | 30 (13.3) | 6 (2.7) |
| K12 | Improving access to summaries of evidence is appropriate to encourage evidence-based practice. | 192 (85.3) | 30 (13.3) | 3 (1.3) |
| K13 | The increasing number of systematic reviews that are applicable to general practice can be found in the Cochrane Library. | 149 (66.2) | 76 (33.8) | – |
| K14 | Difficulty in understanding statistical terms is the major setback in applying evidence-based medicine. | 163 (72.4) | 53 (23.6) | 9 (4.0) |
| K15 | Application of evidence-based practice is cost-effective to healthcare system. | 129 (57.3) | 82 (36.4) | 14 (6.2) |