Critical appraisal
What is critical appraisal?
Critical appraisal involves critically examining a study to determine its validity, reliability and relevance. It is an important and essential part of the EBP 5-step process. For a more comprehensive overview refer to the critical appraisal for health guide.
It is useful to ask the following three questions when conducting an appraisal:
- Are the results of the study valid?
- Are the results of the study reliable?
- Are the results applicable to my situation? (Saewert & Hagler, 20151)
Critical appraisal tools & guides
There are many different appraisal tools that can be used depending on the type of study. See below for some examples.
- Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklistsThis set of critical appraisal tools are designed to be used when reviewing health research. They include checklists for systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, cohort studies etc.
- Centre for Evidence Based Medicine - Critical appraisal toolsContains useful tools and worksheets for the critical appraisal of different types of medical evidence.
- Joanna Briggs Institute - critical appraisal toolsJBI’s critical appraisal tools assist in assessing the trustworthiness, relevance and results of published papers.
- PRISMA checklistA 27-item checklist addressing the different sections of systematic reviews regardless of the design of included studies. Primarily designed for systematic reviews that evaluate the effects of health interventions, PRISMA can also be used for systematic reviews evaluating societal or educational interventions as well as those evaluating aetiology, prevalence, or prognosis.
1. Saewert, K. J., & Hagler, D. (2015). Generating the evidence for health professional education: The five As of the scholarship of learning and teaching - ask, answer, access, appraise and apply. In T. Brown & B. Williams (Eds.), Evidence-based education in the health professions: Promoting best practice in the learning and teaching of students (pp. 67-80). London: Radcliffe.