Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #107506

Russell E. Glasgow, PhD, Clinical Research Unit, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, P.O. Box 378066, Denver, CO 80237-8066, Lawrence W. Green, DrPH, University of California at Berkeley, 66 Santa Paula Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127, and Shawna L. Mercer, MSc, PhD, Office of the Chief Science Officer, CDC, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, Mail Stop D-50, Atlanta, GA 30333, 404-639-4692, SMercer@cdc.gov.

Starting with the proposition that “if we want more evidence-based practice, then we need more practice-based evidence,” the purposes of this presentation are to: 1) provide a series of questions that clinicians and policy makers can use to determine the applicability of evidence; and 2) suggest a set of criteria that reviews of evidence can use to evaluate the external validity and potential for generalization. Today, the vast majority of evidence comes from efficacy studies, and quality of evidence ratings scales are based primarily upon internal validity criteria. Questions for users of evidence to ask include: “how similar is the population or sample of people (e.g., patients), and staff to those in my settings; how feasible is this program to adopt in our setting given the resources, time, and expertise required; and does the study report on outcomes important to our setting and stakeholders (e.g., quality of life, unanticipated consequences, cost-effectiveness)?” Recommended criteria for external validity quality ratings include data on reach or penetration of the intervention; representativeness of population, practitioners, and settings to intended applications; robustness or consistency in outcomes across a standard set of potential moderating variables; and adaptability of the intervention to different populations and settings. The development of such metrics and tools for practitioners and policy makers is seen as a beginning step toward increasing the relevance of research and for decision making, and should support the creation and reporting of more practice-based research. Substantial time will be left for discussion with the audience.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe current challenges in evaluating the generalizability and applicability of medical and health promotion evidence.
• List 3-4 questions that clinicians and policy makers can ask to determine the applicability of study results to their setting.
• Describe 3-4 recommended quality rating criteria related to the external validity of study results.

Keywords: Evidence Based Practice, Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation