TY - JOUR T1 - Towards evidence based medicine for paediatricians JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood JO - Arch Dis Child SP - 431 LP - 434 DO - 10.1136/adc.85.5.431 VL - 85 IS - 5 A2 - Phillips, Bob Y1 - 2001/11/01 UR - http://adc.bmj.com/content/85/5/431.abstract N2 - In order to give the best care to patients and families, paediatricians need to integrate the highest quality scientific evidence with clinical expertise and the opinions of the family.1 Archimedes seeks to assist practising clinicians by providing “evidence based” answers to common questions which are not at the forefront of research but are at the core of practice. They are based on an original format from theJournal of Accident and Emergency Medicine.2 A word of warning. These best evidence topic summaries (BETs) are not systematic reviews, though they are as exhaustive as a practising clinician can produce. They make no attempt to statistically aggregate the data, nor search the grey, unpublished literature. WhatArchimedes offers are practical, best evidence based answers to practical, clinical questions.Each topic follows the same format. A description of the clinical setting is followed by a structured clinical question. (These aid in focusing the mind, assisting searching,3 and gaining answers.4) A brief report of the search used follows—this has been performed in a hierarchical way, to search for the best quality evidence to answer the question.5 A table provides a summary of the evidence and key points of the critical appraisal. For further information on critical appraisal, and the measures of effect (such as number needed to treat, NNT) books by Sackett6and Moyer7 may help. A commentary is provided to pull the information together, and for accessibility, a box provides the clinical bottom lines.Readers wishing to submit their own questions—with best evidence answers—are encouraged to read the Instructions for Authors athttp://archdischild.com … ER -