David Bowers - Understanding Clinical Papers

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Fourth Edition

David Bowers

Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, UK

Allan House

Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, UK

David Owens

Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, UK

Bridgette Bewick

Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, UK

This edition first published 2021

© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Edition History John Wiley & Sons (3e,2013)

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: Bowers, David, 1938– author. | House, Allan, author. | Owens, David, 1954– author. | Bewick, Bridgette, author.

Title: Understanding clinical papers / David Bowers, Allan House, David Owens, Bridgette Bewick.

Description: Fourth edition. | Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020024728 (print) | LCCN 2020024729 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119573166 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119572855 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119573142 (epub)

Subjects: MESH: Medical Writing–standards | Journalism, Medical | Reading

Classification: LCC R119 (print) | LCC R119 (ebook) | NLM WZ 345 | DDC 808.06/661–dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024728LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024729

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Images: row of samples © Andrew Brookes/Getty Images, Stethoscope and digital tablet © Jamie Grill/Getty Images, Complete heart block © Keetapong Pongtipakorn/Shutterstock

Buy this book if you are a health‐care professional and you want some guidance in understanding the clinical research literature. It is designed to help you with reading research papers, by explaining their structure and the vocabulary they use. These essential first steps will make interpretation of clinical research that much easier for you. For example, the book will help with questions like:

Who were the authors, what is their standing, and can they be trusted?

What question or questions did they want to answer, and what was the clinical importance of doing so?

Who were the subjects in the study, how were they chosen, and were the methods used the most suitable?

How were the data collected? Was this the best approach?

What methods did the authors use to analyse the data, and were the methods employed appropriate?

What did they find? Were their conclusions consistent with their results?

Were there any shortcomings in the study? Do the authors acknowledge them?

What are the clinical implications of their results?

Does it all make sense?

This book is not an introduction to medical statistics, study design, epidemiology, systematic reviews, evidence‐based medicine, or critical appraisal, although we inevitably touch on all of these things (and more). Even so, if you are not already well versed in some of these fields, you should know a lot more by the time you get to the end.

We have concentrated on improving our readers’ understanding of quantitative research papers, and while qualitative papers contain several important elements which we have not been able to cover here, there are many other areas, particularly at the beginning and ends of papers, which readers of qualitative papers will find relevant to their needs.

Primarily, this book should be of interest to the following individuals:

Clinicians currently practising. This would include GPs, doctors in hospitals, in the community and in public health, nurses, midwives, health visitors, health educators and promoters, physiotherapists, dietitians, chiropodists, speech therapists, radiographers, pharmacists, and other clinically‐related specialists;

Clinicians of all types engaged in research activities: as part of their training; as a condition of their clinical duties; for postgraduate studies and courses; or for professional qualifications.