Practical Evidence-Based Physiotherapy is designed to help physiotherapists of all levels of expertise to use high quality research evidence in their clinical decision making.



Written by an international team of experts and comprehensively updated in its third edition, the book considers how different sorts of evidence can be used to guide physiotherapy practice. It covers emerging methods, the use of both quantitative and qualitative research, and how to use online resources.



This book will help physiotherapy students and practitioners acquire fundamental skills of evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning, quickly find and use evidence in their work, and stay up to date with the latest evidence.



Written specifically for physiotherapists, with physiotherapy examples throughout
Clear explanations, research terminology explained
Suitable for all levels of expertise - highlighted critical points and text box summaries (basic), detailed explanations in text (intermediate) and footnotes (advanced)
Detailed strategies for searching physiotherapy-relevant databases, including the DiTA database
Extensive consideration of clinical practice guidelines
Emerging methods such as stepped-wedge trials, network meta-analysis, mixed methods reviews and process evaluations
Widely referenced throughout



Chapter 1 Evidence-based physiotherapy: what, why and how?

What is 'evidence-based physiotherapy?

Why is evidence-based physiotherapy important?

History of evidence-based health care

How will this book help you to practise evidence-based physiotherapy?



Chapter 2 What do I need to know?

Relevant clinical questions

Refining your question



Chapter 3 What constitutes evidence?

What constitutes evidence about effects of interventions?

What constitutes evidence about experiences?

What constitutes evidence about prognosis?

What constitutes evidence about the accuracy of diagnostic and screening tests?



Chapter 4 Finding the evidence

Search strategies

Finding evidence of effects of interventions

Finding evidence of prognosis and diagnostic tests

Finding evidence of experiences

Getting full text

Finding evidence of advances in clinical practice (browsing)



Chapter 5 Can I trust this evidence?

A process for critical appraisal of evidence

Critical appraisal of evidence about the effects of intervention

Critical appraisal of evidence about experiences

Critical appraisal of evidence about prognosis

Critical appraisal of evidence about diagnostic tests



Chapter 6 What does this evidence mean for my practice?

What does this randomized trial mean for my practice?

What does this systematic review of effects of intervention mean for my practice?

What does this study of experiences mean for my practice?

What does this study of prognosis mean for my practice?

What does this study of the accuracy of a diagnostic test mean for my practice?



Chapter 7 Clinical guidelines as a resource for evidence-based physiotherapy

What are clinical guidelines?

History of clinical guidelines and why they are important

Where can I find clinical guidelines?

How do I know if I can trust the recommendations in a clinical guideline?



Chapter 8 When and how should new therapies be introduced into clinical practice?

The life cycle of a medical innovation

A case study

Proposal for a protocol for introduction of new therapies

Anticipation of some objections



Chapter 9 Making it happen

What do we mean by 'making it happen?

Changing is hard

Evidence-based implementation

Evidence-based physiotherapy in the context of continuous quality improvement



Chapter 10 Am I on the right track?

Assessing patient outcomes: clinical measurement

Assessing the process of care: audit

Concluding comment







About Robert Herbert



Professor Rob Herbert initially trained as a physiotherapist. Rob has an interest in clinical research and conducts randomised trials investigating the effects of physical interventions for motor impairment. He was a founding Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy, which maintains the PEDro database (www.pedro.org.au), a unique database of randomised trials, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines in physiotherapy. Gro Jamtvedt is Dean at the Faculty for Health, Oslo Met, Oslo, Norway. A widely published physiotherapist with a H index of 28. Kare Birger Hagen is Director, Reviews and Health Technology Assessment at the Norweigen Institute of Public Health, Oslo Norway. Associate Professor Mark Elkins (PhD, MHSc, BA, BPhty) is based in Sydney, Australia, where he is a Senior Research Physiotherapist in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at University of Sydney. He is also the Scientific Editor of the Journal of Physiotherapy (Elsevier). Mark is a co-director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy, which maintains the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro; www.pedro.org.au), which hosts over 1.5 million searches per year.