Petticrew M, Roberts H
MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, UK.
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003 Jul;57(7):527-9. doi: 10.1136/jech.57.7.527.
Debate is ongoing about the nature and use of evidence in public health decision making, and there seems to be an emerging consensus that the "hierarchy of evidence" may be difficult to apply in other settings. It may be unhelpful however to simply abandon the hierarchy without having a framework or guide to replace it. One such framework is discussed. This is based around a matrix, and emphasises the need to match research questions to specific types of research. This emphasis on methodological appropriateness, and on typologies rather than hierarchies of evidence may be helpful in organising and appraising public health evidence.
关于公共卫生决策中证据的性质和用途的争论仍在继续，而且似乎正在形成一种共识，即“证据等级制度”可能难以应用于其他情况。然而，如果没有一个框架或指南来取代它，仅仅放弃等级制度可能是没有帮助的。本文讨论了这样一个框架。它基于一个矩阵，并强调将研究问题与特定类型的研究相匹配的必要性。这种对方法适当性以及证据类型而非证据等级的强调，可能有助于整理和评估公共卫生证据。
