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Physical Therapy

What are Levels of Evidence?

EBM Pyramid and EBM Page Generator, copyright 2006 Trustees of Dartmouth College and Yale University. All Rights Reserved. Produced by Jan Glover, David Izzo, Karen Odato and Lei Wang.

Introductory Article to Levels of Evidence
Read before beginning research involving levels of evidence.
Oxford Centre Evidence-based Medicine – Levels of Evidence
The Levels of Evidence help you to target your search at the type of evidence that is most likely to provide a reliable answer.

CEBM Levels of Evidence Introduction
The 2011 Oxford CEBM Levels of Evidence: Introductory Document
Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine 2011 Levels of Evidence Chart
Chart with questions to ask about patient's condition and the corresponding level of evidence needed.

The Evidence-Based Practice Process

Research Using Levels of Evidence

Evaluating Evidence Scales

Essential Evidence Plus (EBM)
Provides evidence rating scales.

Searching for Information Using Levels of Evidence

National Guideline Clearinghouse
Provides evidenced-based guidelines, which is the next level of evidence to use if you cannot find a Systematic Review or Meta Analysis on your topic. See the pyramid image for further reference to levels of evidence.

CINAHL Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Search Publication Type for Meta Analysis, Clinical Queries and Practice Guidelines to access higher levels of evidence.

Pub Med
Search Clinical Queries and Practice Guidelines to access higher evidence-based information.

Joanna Briggs Institute Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports
Hosted by the University of Adelaide, Australia. Includes free articles. You can select Collections from the menu at the top of the page to view specific information. See image.