The Making Evidence-Based Medicine Simple Series — Harm Module

Abstract

Abstract The Making Evidence Based Medicine Simple Series is an evidence based clinical practice curriculum. It consists of six modules that review the articles types addressing the most common clinical questions (i.e., diagnosis, therapy, harm, prognosis, meta-analysis and clinical decision rules). Each module reviews an article from the medical literature using the Users Guide to Medical Literature criteria for validity, results and applicability. Each modules includes a PowerPoint presentation with a script, a video of the presentation with narration, a quiz with answers, tips for teaching the module, a blank review form, and a completed critical article review for the article reviewed in the module. The Harm Module reviews the appraisal of the validity, results, and applicability of a retrospective cohort study from a state Medicaid database of adults receiving Azithromycin. The study addresses the following clinical question: Do adult patients receiving Azithromycin when compared to no antibiotics or other antibiotics have an increased risk of cardiovascular deaths? In addition, this module reviews the following critical appraisal skills: (1) identifying the strengths and weaknesses of cohort and case control studies, (2) differentiating between prevalence and incidence, (3) differentiating between risk and odds, (4) interpreting a relative risk and an odds ratio, (5) identifying and factors likely to increase causality, and (5) interpreting a number needed to harm.

Keywords

• Harm
• Prognosis
• Therapy
• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Meta-Analysis
• Journal Club