Evidence based general practice: a retrospective study of interventions in one training practice.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the proportion of interventions in general practice that are based on evidence from clinical trials and to assess the appropriateness of such an evaluation.

DESIGN

Retrospective review of case notes.

SETTING

One suburban training general practice.

SUBJECTS

122 consecutive doctor-patient consultations over two days.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Proportions of interventions based on randomised controlled trials (from literature search with Medline, pharmaceutical databases, and standard textbooks), on convincing non-experimental evidence, and without substantial evidence.

RESULTS

21 of the 122 consultations recorded were excluded due to insufficient data; 31 of the interventions were based on randomised controlled trial evidence and 51 based on convincing non-experimental evidence. Hence 82/101 (81%) of interventions were based on evidence meeting our criteria.

CONCLUSIONS

Most interventions within general practice are based on evidence from clinical trials, but the methods used in such trials may not be the most appropriate to apply to this setting.