SBA — Single Best Answer · Review
Question 647
Clinical Management → Clinical Practice
Classification
Question
SSBAQuestion Header
Evidence-based medicine in practice
Question Stem
How should evidence from clinical trials be used in the care of an individual patient?
Options
A
Apply trial results identically to every patient
B
Use current best evidence as a guide while individualising care with clinical expertise
C
Restrict decisions to evidence from randomised placebo-controlled trials
D
Prefer subjective outcome measures because they reflect patient experience
E
Ignore health economic assessment
Explanation
Evidence-based medicine integrates individual clinical expertise with the best available external evidence. Evidence is a guide, and trial results should not be assumed to require identical treatment for every patient.
Option Validity
A) Evidence-based medicine cautions against assuming that all patients should be treated identically from trial results.
C) Evidence is not restricted to randomised controlled trials; observational and other study designs also contribute.
D) Objective disease outcome measurements reduce bias compared with subjective measures.
E) Health economic assessment is central to evidence-based medicine.
Further Reading
Saxena MRCOG-1 Basic Sciences — Principles of Clinical Practice, printed p. 1.