Practically, clinicians will look at 5 abstracts. Most of us don't
really like reading.
What is preferable (i.e. better at getting at The Truth) certainly does
depend on the detail ... 5 abstracts of case series & poorly done
cohorts would be terrible compared with a decent systematic review. On
the other hand, 5 abstracts which included a good systematic review and
more recent RCTs would be much better than full-text of a single case.
Cheers
Bob
Brian Alper MD wrote:
> Depends on the articles.
>
> 5 well-done abstracts (which truly represent the core information in the
> article) would be more useful than 5 highly tailored abstracts (e.g.
> reporting the difference in secondary outcomes and not mentioning the
> lack of difference in primary outcomes)
>
> 1 full-text article that is poorly done and misleading would not be as
> valuable
>
> --------------------------------------
> Brian S. Alper, MD, MSPH
> Editor-in-Chief, DynaMed (www.DynamicMedical.com)
> Medical Director, EBSCO Publishing
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Evidence based health (EBH)
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jon Brassey
> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 6:39 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: 1 full text or 5 abstracts?
>
> Hi!
>
> I'd welcome comments on the following scenario.
>
> A busy clinician has a limited amount of time to answer a clinical
> question. They carry out a quick search and find 5 decent abstracts.
> They have two options:
>
> 1) Look at one full-text article.
>
> 2) Look at 5 abstracts.
>
> Which do people think is preferable?
>
> Best wishes
>
> jon
>
> Jon Brassey
> TRIP Database
> www.tripdatabase.com
>
>
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--
Dr Bob Phillips
Locum Consultant in Paediatric Oncology, Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust
MRC Fellow, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York
Section Editor, Archimedes, Archives of Diseases in Childhood
Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Evidence-based Child Health, London
Associate Fellow, Centre for Evidence-based Medicine, Oxford
mobile: 07968 727424
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