Evidence Based Practice Midterm Study Guide - Weeks 1-6

In evidence-based practice, what is the MOST crucial consideration when deciding on a treatment approach for a patient?

A physical therapist is considering using a new therapeutic exercise for patients with chronic lower back pain. According to the principles of evidence-based practice, what should be their FIRST step?

Which scenario BEST exemplifies the integration of patient values in evidence-based practice?

A physical therapist reviews a study that shows a new intervention is statistically effective for improving outcomes, but the findings have limited clinical significance. What does this suggest?

According to the evidence pyramid, which type of study generally provides the WEAKEST level of evidence for clinical decision-making?

A clinician observes a treatment yielding positive results in their practice, even though there is limited research to support its use. According to evidence-based practice, what is the MOST appropriate course of action?

A patient is hesitant to follow a recommended treatment plan due to personal beliefs that conflict with conventional medicine. What should the healthcare provider do to uphold the principles of evidence-based practice?

During which step of the five-step EBP process would a clinician MOST likely use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)?

Which study design is considered a 'secondary' study because they are authored by experts in the field and provide direct recommendations for practice?

What is the primary goal of 'study appraisal' in evidence-based practice?

In the context of interventions, what is the key characteristic of 'specific effects'?

Which of the following research study is the BEST choice for determining cause-and-effect?

Why might a researcher choose a research design other than a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine cause-and-effect?

A physical therapist is treating two patients post ankle sprain. All other things being equal, which patient most likely has a prolonged recovery?

What does evidence-based practice involve beyond just using research findings?

What is the difference between 'prediction' and 'causation' in research?

A new study finds a strong correlation between the number of hours a student studies and their exam scores. Based on this, what can you definitively conclude?

A researcher aims to determine the causal effect of a new exercise program on reducing lower back pain. Which of the following actions would best strengthen their ability to establish causality, assuming a randomized controlled trial is not feasible?

Which type of research question aims to establish factors that elevate the likelihood of developing a condition or injury?

Which study design is most appropriate for determining the diagnostic test accuracy?

Which search operator would you use in PubMed to combine two search terms and narrow your results?

Which database is specifically tailored to physiotherapy evidence?

A researcher is conducting a systematic review. Which database would be most suitable for finding this type of evidence?

What is the initial step in the evidence-based practice (EBP) process?

Which element describes the 'I' in the PICO framework?

Which factor is most likely to contribute to the placebo effect in a clinical setting?

Which of the following is NOT one of the commonly reported barriers to implementing evidence-based practice (EBP) among physical therapists?

What is a key strategy for a physical therapist to prevent the nocebo effect when communicating with patients about potential treatment side effects?

In the context of evidence-based practice, what is the PRIMARY purpose of using standardized outcome measures?

Which of the following BEST describes 'clinical research' in the context of evidence-based practice?

What is the primary issue associated with reporting bias in research?

In evidence-based practice, patient values primarily encompass which of the following?

When determining the applicability of a research study, what aspect is MOST important to consider regarding the study population?

Which aspect of patient management involves predicting the likely course of a patient's condition and potential outcomes?

In the context of research, what is a surrogate outcome?

What is the primary concern when a study uses a surrogate outcome?

When evaluating research evidence, what are the two PRIMARY scales used to rate the evidence?

Why is 'lack of generalizability of research' considered a barrier to evidence-based practice?

What is a critical consideration when evaluating the clinical relevance of an intervention in a research study?

What does it mean for a therapist to be a 'consumer of research' in evidence-based practice?

Why is randomization important when a patient is receiving some sort of intervention in a study?

What is the primary concern regarding participant attrition (dropout) in a research study?

What is the MAIN focus of the provided materials regarding statistics?

Why is a shared informed decision important in therapeutic practice?

Which of the following best describes 'non-clinical research'?

Why are studies of healthy individuals valuable in therapy?

What patient factors dictate that the best approach for treatment involves patient preferences?

In the context of breaking down barriers to EBP what is a key factor for therapists to optimize speed?

In research studies, what is the primary purpose of preserving the original group assignments when comparing groups?

Why is it important to determine who funded a research study and if the researchers benefited from it?

What is the 'clinical bottom line' in the context of appraising a research study?

Which of the following best describes selection bias?

Why is it crucial to ensure that the statistical analysis used in a study is appropriate for the type of data collected?

Which type of data is represented by categorizing patients as 'smokers' or 'non-smokers'?

A researcher measures the height of participants in centimeters. This data is best described as:

What is the defining characteristic of ratio data that distinguishes it from other types of continuous data?

Which of the following scenarios exemplifies intra-individual reliability?

A study evaluates the effectiveness of a new pain medication. To minimize bias, neither the patients nor the clinicians evaluating their pain levels know who is receiving the actual medication and who is receiving a placebo. This is an example of:

In a clinical trial comparing a new drug to a placebo, what is the primary purpose of including a 'sham group'?

In the appraisal process, what does 'applicability' refer to when evaluating a research study?

A survey asks respondents to rate their satisfaction with a product on a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). This type of data is best described as:

A researcher counts the number of patients who develop a specific complication after surgery. This data is best described as:

What does reliability in measurement refer to?

Which of the following best describes intra-individual reliability?

What is the primary difference between intra-session and inter-session reliability?

In the context of intra-rater reliability, what does inter-session reliability specifically evaluate?

Why is it important to establish inter-rater reliability when measuring clinical outcomes?

An Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) is calculated to be 0.1. What does this indicate about the agreement between raters?

When appraising the applicability of a research study, what should be considered first?

Why is it important to assess the similarity of groups at baseline in an intervention study?

Which descriptive statistic is most appropriate for summarizing data that is normally distributed?

What does a narrow confidence interval (CI) indicate regarding the accuracy of the sample mean?

A study reports a p-value of 0.06. Assuming the alpha level is set at 0.05, what can be concluded about the statistical significance of the study's findings?

What does the 'Number Needed to Treat' (NNT) indicate?

When should median and mode be reported instead of mean and standard deviation?

What does a large effect size (Cohen’s d) suggest about the impact of an intervention?

What is the primary purpose of conducting an intention-to-treat analysis?

What is the potential consequence of confirmation bias in the context of research appraisal?

A therapist is conducting research on a new intervention. What scenario exemplifies confirmation bias?

Which action is LEAST likely to reduce confirmation bias in clinical research?

In a normal distribution, approximately what percentage of data falls within three standard deviations of the mean?

A dataset representing the ages of individuals in a retirement community is likely to exhibit which type of distribution?

Which descriptive statistic is most affected by extreme values in a dataset?

A researcher calculates a 95% confidence interval for the mean blood pressure of patients taking a new medication to be (120, 130). What does this interval suggest?

Which type of data is represented by assigning colors to different types of flowers?

A therapist uses a pain scale (1-10) to assess a patient's pain level. This data would be considered as what type of data?

A researcher measures the weight of participants in a study. This data is best described as:

What does inter-rater reliability measure?

An Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.9 indicates:

In hypothesis testing, what does a Type I error represent?

A study fails to reject the null hypothesis when, in reality, the treatment being tested is effective. What type of error is this?

A p-value of 0.01 indicates:

If a treatment has a Number Needed to Treat (NNT) of 5, this means:

What is the primary aim of clinical outcome studies?

In the context of research, what is the significance of Cronbach’s alpha?

Why is handgrip strength considered a relevant clinical outcome measure?

Why must the patient population be considered when determining the validity of a clinical outcome variable?

Why is dissection considered the 'gold standard' for measuring body composition?

How does underwater weighing estimate body fat percentage?

What is measured when performing skinfold testing?

How would you best describe reliability in the context of measurement?

A physical therapist consistently measures a patient's range of motion with the same goniometer, but obtains slightly different measurements each time. What does this indicate?

What is the relationship between reliability and validity?

What does construct validity assess?

In consecutive sampling, how are participants selected for a study?

How do random and consecutive sampling reduce selection bias?

What practical challenges do researchers face when recruiting participants for a study?

What factor is most important when considering the generalizability of a study's findings?

What is the MOST significant implication of a small sample size in an intervention study?

In research notation, what does 'R' typically signify in the context of an intervention study?

Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of 'intention-to-treat' analysis?

What BEST describes the difference between 'efficacy' and 'effectiveness'?

In a study evaluating a new rehabilitation protocol for stroke patients, researchers use stratification. What is the PRIMARY reason for using stratification in this context?

What is the MOST direct purpose of appraising the results section of an intervention research study?

The distribution of patient age in a cardiac rehabilitation program is strongly skewed to the right. Which measure of central tendency would BEST represent the 'typical' age of patients in this program?

A researcher reports a wide range for patient-reported pain scores following a new intervention. What does a wide range indicate about the data?

A physical therapist is reviewing a study and notes that the researchers used a consecutive sample. Which of the following BEST describes how the participants were recruited for the study?

In a study examining the effectiveness of a new exercise program, several participants drop out due to an inability to tolerate the exercises. What MOST accurately reflects the importance of documenting this attrition?

When a universally accepted 'gold standard' is unavailable, what is the MOST suitable approach for assessing the validity of a new measurement tool?

Which statistical measure is MOST appropriate for assessing agreement between two continuous measures?

What key factor distinguishes the absolute risk reduction (ARR) from the relative risk reduction (RRR)?

Why is it inaccurate to classify a measurement tool as simply 'reliable' or 'unreliable'?

A study shows a new treatment has a Cohen’s d effect size of 0.65. How should a clinician interpret this value?

In addition to statistical considerations, what practical factor should be considered when selecting a measurement tool for clinical use?

What is the MOST accurate interpretation of 'clinically meaningful' when evaluating research outcomes?

Why is it important to review the tables and figures in the results section of a research study before reading the authors' conclusions?

When should the term 'effect' be used when interpreting research results?

Which of the following outcome measures would be MOST appropriately evaluated using an effect size such as Cohen's d?

How can confidence intervals assist in the interpretation of research study results?

How does the Minimally Important Change (MIC) differ from the Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID)?

What is the primary distinction between questionnaire-based outcome measures and performance-based outcome measures?

What is a significant limitation of using Cohen's effect sizes (0.2, 0.5, 0.8) as thresholds for small, medium, and large effects?

A physical therapist reads a study concluding that a particular intervention is highly effective based on statistically significant p-values. What additional clinically meaningful statistics should the therapist look for to determine if the intervention will make a real difference in the patient's life?

What does a 'minimum detectable change' derived from distribution-based methods primarily indicate?

In anchor-based methods for determining meaningful change, what serves as the 'anchor'?

What is the MOST direct way to determine if an outcome measure has the ability to detect genuine change in a patient's status over time?

A clinician is evaluating an outcome measure for use in their practice. What are the MOST important psychometric properties they should consider?

Which method for defining MCIC or MCID directly considers the trade-off between the benefits of an intervention and its associated costs, time, and risks?

What is a primary limitation of exclusively using a MIC attached to a measurement instrument for interpreting between-group differences in randomized controlled trials?

In the context of interpreting research results, what does a high number needed to treat (NNT) suggest about a particular intervention?

When appraising the applicability of a research study to your patient, what is the MOST important consideration?

Why might a study's sample size be considered too small?

What does 'study power' refer to in the context of research?

A researcher is developing a new balance assessment tool and wants to ensure it does not correlate with measures of upper extremity strength. What type of validity is the researcher trying to establish?

When is a 'reference standard' criterion used in determining criterion validity?

Which of the following steps is essential when establishing construct validity?

A new pain scale is administered to a group of patients, and the researchers compare the scores to an existing, well-validated pain scale administered at the same time. Which type of validity is being assessed?

A physical therapist is using a new outcome measure to assess balance in elderly patients; however, a large percentage of the patients achieve the highest possible score. What concept of clinical meaningfulness is MOST likely being affected?

A research study reports a statistically significant difference between a treatment group and a control group (p < 0.05) regarding pain reduction. What is the MOST accurate interpretation of this finding?

In the context of outcome measures, what does 'responsiveness' primarily refer to?

In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), researchers compare a new exercise program to a standard rehabilitation protocol for patients with knee osteoarthritis. If the authors report conclusions based solely on within-group changes, what is the primary limitation of this approach?

A team of experts is asked to review a newly developed questionnaire to determine if it appears to measure the intended construct. This process is BEST described as assessing:

What is the BEST definition of 'Absolute Risk Reduction' (ARR)?

What is the purpose of assessing 'content validity' when evaluating an outcome measure?

A researcher wants to find studies that investigated the reliability and validity of the 'Berg Balance Scale'. Which database would be most suitable for this purpose?

Researchers conduct a study on a new pain management technique and report a 'clinically meaningful difference' in pain scores between the treatment and control groups. What does this finding suggest?

A physical therapist is reviewing research on interventions for improving physical function in older adults. Which outcome measure would provide information about the patient's capacity to perform activities of daily living?

Which statement best describes the 'minimal detectable change' (MDC) of an outcome measure?

A study reports a significant improvement in a patient-reported outcome measure after an intervention. However, the researchers used a sampling method that only included patients who were highly motivated and likely to adhere to the treatment protocol. What is the MOST significant concern regarding the generalizability of these findings?

In the context of interpreting research outcomes, what is the primary purpose of calculating the 'difference' between two groups in a study?

A researcher aims to recruit a 'representative sample' for a study on the effectiveness of a new rehabilitation program. What characteristic is MOST important for ensuring the sample's representativeness?

A physical therapist reads a study that reports a statistically significant difference in functional outcomes between a new treatment and a placebo. However, the confidence intervals for the difference include values close to zero. What is the MOST appropriate interpretation of this finding?

In a clinical trial comparing two different treatment approaches for chronic pain, the researchers report that the 'between-group difference' in pain scores was statistically significant at follow-up. What does this indicate about the two treatments?

What is the primary goal of using random sampling in research?

When interpreting the results of a research study examining the effectiveness of an intervention, what is the MOST important distinction between 'statistical significance' and 'clinical meaningfulness'?

A study involving a new rehabilitation program for stroke patients reports a large within-group change in motor function scores from baseline to post-treatment. What potential confounding factor should be considered when interpreting this result?

Researchers are planning a study to investigate the effectiveness of a new exercise program on reducing lower back pain. Due to time and resource constraints, they opt for consecutive sampling instead of random sampling. What is a potential limitation of using consecutive sampling in this scenario?

Which of the following study characteristics would be MOST concerning when trying to interpret the 'true meaning' of the outcomes?

Which statement accurately describes the relationship between standard deviation and the mean?

A physical therapist measures a patient's shoulder range of motion three times and obtains the following measurements: 90 degrees, 92 degrees, and 91 degrees. This scenario primarily relates to which type of reliability?

Two physical therapists independently assess a patient's Berg Balance Scale score. Which type of reliability is MOST applicable to this situation?

In a research study, the authors conclude that a new treatment is significantly more effective than the standard treatment, but in reality, there is no difference between the two. What type of error has occurred?

During a clinical trial, researchers perform multiple statistical comparisons. What statistical method is MOST appropriate to control for the increased risk of Type I error?

Which statistical measure is BEST suited for evaluating the reliability of continuous data when assessing the consistency of measurements across multiple trials?

A researcher wants to categorize patients based on their level of mobility: 'independent', 'partially dependent', or 'fully dependent'. Which scale of measurement is being used?

Which of the following is a characteristic of a ratio scale?

A researcher is examining the relationship between two ordinal variables. Which statistical method is appropriate for this analysis?

A researcher is assessing the level of agreement between two therapists who are independently classifying patients into diagnostic categories. Which statistical measure is MOST appropriate?

What does a high standard error of measurement (SEM) indicate about the reliability of a measure?

A researcher calculates a 95% confidence interval for the mean blood pressure of a sample of patients. What does this confidence interval represent?

In a research study comparing two groups, the p-value is reported as 0.03. Assuming an alpha level of 0.05, what is the correct interpretation of this result?

A physical therapist wants to determine if there is an association between the type of footwear worn (sneakers vs. boots) and the occurrence of ankle sprains. Which statistical test is MOST appropriate for this analysis?

In a study evaluating the effect of an intervention on pain levels measured at baseline, post-intervention, and at a 1-month follow-up, which statistical test is MOST appropriate?

A clinician is using a goniometer to measure a patient's elbow flexion on two separate occasions. Both measurements are performed by the same clinician on the same patient, with no change expected in the patient's elbow flexion between measurements. Which type of reliability is MOST relevant to assess the consistency of these measurements?

A new questionnaire is developed to assess fear of falling in older adults. The developers want to ensure that all items in the questionnaire are consistently measuring the same underlying construct. Which type of reliability should they prioritize assessing?

A physical therapy clinic wants to implement a standardized functional outcome measure to track patient progress. To ensure reliable data collection, they have multiple therapists administer the measure to the same patient independently. Which type of reliability are they primarily trying to establish?

When evaluating the internal consistency of a newly developed patient-reported outcome measure, a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.92 is obtained. What does this value suggest?

A researcher is investigating the test-retest reliability of a new balance assessment tool. What is a critical consideration when selecting participants for this study?

A researcher is assessing the validity of a new diagnostic test for carpal tunnel syndrome by comparing its results to nerve conduction studies (a gold standard). Which type of validity is being assessed?

A panel of experts is asked to review a newly developed assessment tool for shoulder pain to determine if it adequately covers all relevant aspects of the condition (e.g., pain intensity, range of motion, functional limitations). Which type of validity is being assessed?

A researcher is developing a new measure of functional mobility in older adults. To establish construct validity, they compare the scores on the new measure to scores on an established measure of balance, hypothesizing that individuals with better balance will also demonstrate higher functional mobility. Which type of construct validity is being assessed?

A physical therapist develops a new assessment tool for measuring balance. Upon initial review, other physical therapists in the clinic agree that the tool appears to be measuring balance. Which type of validity is demonstrated?

A study compares a new diagnostic test for ACL tears with MRI findings (considered the 'gold standard'). The new test is administered, and then an MRI is performed within the same week. Which subtype of criterion validity is being assessed?

A researcher wants to assess the ability of a college entrance exam to predict students' future academic performance in college. Which type of validity should be assessed?

Researchers aim to evaluate a novel measure of social anxiety. They hypothesize that individuals diagnosed with social anxiety disorder will score significantly higher on this measure compared to a group of healthy controls. Which subtype of construct validity is being examined?

A clinic implements a new functional outcome measure. After several weeks, some therapists consistently score patients higher than other therapists, even when assessing similar patients. What type of issue is MOST likely present?

A new outcome measure for upper extremity function is being evaluated. Experts in the field review the measure and determine that essential components of upper extremity function, such as fine motor coordination and grip strength, are not adequately represented. Which aspect of the measure is MOST concerning?

A new measure of depression is developed for use in adolescents. Researchers find that scores on this measure are strongly correlated with scores on an existing, well-validated measure of anxiety. What type of validity is potentially compromised?

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

Three Sources of Evidence

Patient Values

Patient Circumstances

Scientific Research

Clinical Expertise

EBP Benefits

EBP Importance

EBP Steps

EBP Barriers

EBP Pillars

EBP Goal

Clinical Research

Non-Clinical Research

Aspects of Patient Management

Research Appraisal

Research Evidence Rating

Shared Informed Decision

Overcoming Time Barriers

Generalizability

EBP & Research Skills

Lack of Info Resources

Systematic Reviews (SRs)

Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs)

Clinical Practice Guidelines

Study Appraisal

Evidence-Based Practice

Specific Effects

Non-Specific Effects

Prediction in Research

"Causal"

RCTs for Causation

Descriptive Questions

Predictive Questions

Causal Questions

Descriptive Study Aims

Predictive Study Aims

Causal Study Aims

Google Scholar

PubMed: Quotation Marks

Boolean Search ('AND')

PubMed: MeSH

PubMed: Clinical Queries

Factors of Placebo

Factors of Nocebo

Reporting Bias

Surrogate Outcome

Preservation of Original Groups

Blinding

Sham Group

Conflicts of Interest

Applicability

Selection Bias

Nominal Data

Continuous Data

Ordinal Data

Likert Scale

Discrete Data

Ratio Data

Reliability

Accuracy

Intra-individual Reliability

Intra-session reliability

Inter-session reliability

Intra-rater reliability

Intra-rater inter-session reliability

Intra-rater intra-session reliability

Inter-rater reliability

Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC)

Descriptive Statistics

Measures of Variability

P-value

Effect Size (Cohen's d)

Number Needed to Treat (NNT)

Confidence Interval (CI)

Confirmation Bias

Normal Distribution

Skewed Distribution

Mean

Standard Deviation

Median

Range

Hypothesis Testing (NHST)

Type I Error

Type II Error

Small Sample Size Error

Consecutive Sample

Selective Sampling

Intention-to-Treat Analysis

What Does R Mean?

What Does X Mean?

What Does O Mean?

Measure of Central Tendency

Random Sampling

Consecutive Sampling

Availability (Sampling)

Clinical Outcome Studies

Cronbach's Alpha

Validity

Dissection

Densitometry

Skinfold Testing

Validity (Measurement)

Reference Standard

Real-world Application

Absolute Risk Reduction (ARR)

Interpreting Outcomes

Within-Person Change

Between-Group Difference

Within-Group Change Includes...

Between-Group Difference Quantifies...

Healthcare Constructs

Clinical Practice Measurement

Interpreting Outcome Score

Statistical Significance

Clinically Meaningful Difference

Representative Sample

Random Sampling Requirement

Effect Size

Cohen’s d

Relative Risk Reduction (RRR)

Outcome Measure

Questionnaire-Based measures

Performance-Based Measures

Psychometric Properties

Discriminant Validity

Content Validity

Face Validity

Criterion Validity

Gold-Standard Criterion

Reference Standard Criterion

Concurrent Validity

Predictive Validity

Construct Validity

Clinical Meaningfulness

Hypothesis Testing (Validity)

Agreement Statistics

Reliability & Validity Spectrum

Clinically Meaningful Change

Effect vs. Change

Minimally Important Change (MIC)

Expressing MCIC/MCID

Cohen's Effect Sizes

Minimum Detectable Change

Anchor-Based Methods

Benefit-Harm Trade-off

Applicability of Research

Quality of Research Study

Study Power

Effect Size & Significance

Variance

Bonferroni Correction

Nominal Scales

Ordinal Scales

Ratio Scale

T-test

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Internal Consistency

Test-Retest Reliability

Gold Standard