Browsing an Article

Adapted from Sackett et al, CMAJ, 1981, Vol 124, March 1, page 555-8
How to efficiently read articles which pass your scanning criteria

Read the abstract (or first paragraphs)
- A well-written abstract will clearly summarize the article
- If no abstract is present, the first paragraph should do the same
- If the information is valid, is the article relevant to your practice?
- Examples: site of study, types of patients
- If the article does not  meet these criteria – discard it!
- If it does, then go on to the next step

Jump to the conclusions (or final paragraphs)
- We tend to read articles completely
- Save time by reading the conclusions right after the abstract
- Do the conclusions match the abstract?
- Are the conclusions applicable to your practice?
- If the article does not  meet these criteria – discard it!
- If it does, then go back and read the article in detail

Checklist – Study Design (JAMA)
- Were patients randomly assigned treatments?
- Did the results account for all patients who entered the trial?
- Were the researchers and patients “blind” to the treatment?
- Were the treatment groups similar at the start of the trial?
- Aside from the intervention, were the groups treated equally?
- If the article does not  meet these criteria – discard it!
- If it does, then go on to the next step

Checklist – Results (JAMA)
- How large was the treatment effect (relative risk reduction)?
- How precise was the estimate of treatment effect (confidence interval)?
- How many patients need to be treated before one is helped (NNT)?
- Were all clinically important outcomes considered?
- Are the treatment benefits worth the potential harm and cost?
- Will the results help you in caring for your patients?
- If the article does not meet these criteria – discard it!

Save high-quality articles
- Keep selected articles for future reference
- What is the probability that you will ever read this article again?
- If you do read it again, what is the likelihood that it will still be relevant?
- Maintaining a reprint filing system can be very time consuming
- Requires a method for culling out-of-date material

Share information with your peers
- Discuss high-quality articles with your colleagues
- Post reprints of high-quality articles on a bulletin board
- Circulation clubs permit sharing of journals, but take effort to administer
- Journal clubs are rare outside of the academic environment