engleski

Awareness and use of evidence-based medicine databases and The Cochrane Library among physicians in Croatia

Objective: To assess awareness and use of evidence-based medicine (EBM) databases and The Cochrane Library among physicians in Croatia. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a telephone survey was performed among 573 physicians (88.6% response rate from contacted 647 physicians) from family practice and 4 major university hospital centers in Croatia. The main outcome measures were physicians' awareness of The Cochrane Collaboration, awareness and use of The Cochrane Library, access to EBM databases and access to Internet at work. Results: Overall, 54% of respondents said they had access to EBM databases, but when asked which databases they used, they mostly named non-EBM databases. The question on the highest level of evidence in EBM was correctly answered by 53% respondents, 30% heard of The Cochrane Collaboration, and 34% heard about The Cochrane Library. They obtained information about The Cochrane Library mostly from colleagues and research articles, whereas the information about EBM was gained mainly during continuous medical education. There were more respondents who thought The Cochrane Library could help them in practice (58%) than those who heard about The Cochrane Library (30%). Only 20% of the respondents heard about the initiative for the establishment of the Croatian branch of The Cochrane Collaboration. Family physicians had significantly lower level of awareness, knowledge and use of EBM and The Cochrane Library than physicians from university hospitals. Conclusion: There is insufficient awareness among physicians in Croatia about EBM and Cochrane organization. There is a need for educational interventions about EBM for the benefit of health care in Croatia.

evidence-based medicine ; awareness ; The Cochrane Library ; physicians

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