What is Evidence-based Practice (EBP)?
Evidence-based dietetics practice is about asking questions, systematically finding research evidence, and assessing the validity, applicability and importance of that evidence. This evidence-based information is then combined with the dietitian's expertise and judgment and the client’s or community’s unique values and circumstances to guide decision-making in dietetics.
Source: International Confederation of Dietetic Associations - Evidence-based dietetics practice
PEN Nutrition
Topics in PEN address the broad spectrum of practice in nutrition and dietetics including institutional care, primary health care, public/community health, consulting/private practice, food service management, professional education, food and the pharmaceutical industry and government. Recognized authorities on each topic or Knowledge Pathway addressed in PEN contribute to the identification of relevant literature from filtered and original sources and critically appraise, grade and synthesize that literature into key practice points or answers to practice questions.
Nutrition Evidence Library (U.S. Department of Agriculture)
USDA’s Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL) specializes in conducting systematic reviews to inform Federal nutrition policy and programs.
Sources of Evidence
Cochrane Library (UPEI resource)
The Cochrane Library contains over 4600 Cochrane Reviews which are systematic reviews of primary research in human health care and health policy, and are internationally recognised as the highest standard in evidence-based health care. Full text is available for download.
DARE - Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects
DARE, part of Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, provides a selection of high qaulity assessed reviews for which there is currently no Cochrane Review. They provide structured abstracts and more about DARE is available here: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/CRDWeb/AboutPage.asp
Health Evidence
Search healthevidence.org for access to 3,853 quality-rated systematic reviews evaluating the effectiveness of public health interventions. We search the published literature and compile public health relevant reviews -- eliminating your need to search and screen individual databases. Use of the database requires registration which is free.
PubMed Clinical Queries
Search for systematic reviews, meta-analyses, reviews of clinical trials, evidence-based medicine, consensus development conferences, and guidelines. A comprehensive source that contains abstracts supplied by authors/journals, but no separate evaluation of the quality of research.
CINAHL (UPEI resource)
CINAHL lets you limit by publication type
CINAHL allows the user to limit their searches to publication types including systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, clinical trials, case studies, and others.
Practice Guidelines
Canadian Medical Association CMA Infobase: Clinical Practice Guidelines
From the website: "The CMA Infobase is a database of evidence-based Canadian clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). Maintained by the Canadian Medical Association, it includes approximately 1,200 CPGs developed or endorsed by authoritative medical or health organizations in Canada."
National Guideline Clearing House (NGC)
From the website: "NGC is a public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines." A number of tools to compare guidelines and more than 200 nutrition guidelines are available.
NICE Clinical Guidelines
National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence, UK. Review the Diet, nutrition and obseity section of the site.
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly American Dietetic Association) Evidence-Based Nutrition Practice Guidelines
Evidence-Based Nutrition Practice Guidelines are a series of guiding statements and treatment algorithms which are developed using a systematic process for identifying, analyzing and synthesizing scientific evidence. They are designed to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate nutrition care for specific disease states or conditions in typical settings.
Metasearch EBP engines
TRIP
The TRIP Database is a clinical search engine designed to allow clinicians to quickly find answers to their clinical questions using the best available evidence.
SUMSearch
SUMSearch simultaneously searches for original studies, systematic reviews, and practice guidelines from multiple sources. Searches for studies are revised up to 6 times as needed, while guidelines and systematic reviews may be revised once each. Results from PubMed, Dare, and NGC are merged and sorted.
Updated: September 2014