Abstract
Seel RT, Dijkers MP, Johnston MV. Developing and using evidence to improve rehabilitation
practice.
The Clinical Practice Committee of the American Congress of Rehabilitation sponsored
this supplement to address 2 critical, related issues for the rehabilitation field:
how to develop clinical rehabilitation research to generate useful, high-quality evidence
and how to use evidence to improve rehabilitation practice. The 2 are linked by the
methods of evidence-based practice (EBP) used to evaluate research evidence and make
recommendations for practice. Supplement authors tackle challenges, such as identifying
treatment effects and how study design decisions can impact the internal and external
validity of research findings, in 4 articles that describe: a 3-phase process for
the development of rehabilitation treatments; small-N study designs; the design, implementation,
and statistical analysis of rehabilitation clinical trials; and observational research
designs used to compare the effectiveness of rehabilitation treatments. Two articles
present contemporary best methods for developing and evaluating rehabilitation prediction
models and outcome measures. The supplement also addresses issues of evaluating research
evidence and translating evidence into clinical decisions or recommendations. An overview
of tools that EBP adherents have developed to help the clinician find, synthesize,
and apply evidence is presented, followed by an article that identifies 8 primary
steps in the production of a systematic review. The last article outlines 13 recommendations
for improving systematic evidence reviews and applying their resulting knowledge to
clinical practice. In addition to recommending best methods, the supplement addresses
challenges specific to the behavioral complexity of developing rehabilitation research
and applying it in a way that improves the health, function, and quality of life of
persons served.
Key Words
List of Abbreviations:
EBP (evidence-based practice), IRT (item response theory), SR (systematic review)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 11, 2012
Footnotes
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
Reprints are not available from the author.
In-press corrected proof published online on Jun 7, 2012, at www.archives-pmr.org.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
