How to read a published clinical trial: a practical guide for clinicians

Abstract

Over the last 5 years, there have been more than 140 new drug approvals in the field of Oncology alone, all based on newly published clinical trials. These approvals have led to an ongoing change in clinical practice, offering new therapeutic options for patients. Therefore, it is important for healthcare providers to be able to appraise a clinical trial and determine its validity, understand its results, and be able to apply such results to their patients. In this guide, we provide a simplified approach tailored to practicing clinicians and trainees. The same concepts and principles apply to other medical specialties.

Keywords

• apixaban
• apixaban for the prevention of venous thromboembolism
• critical appraisal
• evidence-based medicine
• evidence-based practice
• randomized-clinical trials