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Table 2 Evaluation of clinical utility of the AFT

From: Measuring evidence-based practice knowledge and skills in occupational therapy—a brief instrument

Item

EBP step tested

Acceptable knowledge level

Acceptable completion time

Comment

Decision

Modification made

1. Write a focused question from one of two scenarios

Ask

Maybe

Yes

Straight forward and quick to complete but likely that participants may not know the PICO format

Modify

The answer section was structured to indicate the Population, Intervention, Comparative intervention and Outcome (PICO) format

2. Identify sources of information to answer clinical questions with their advantages and disadvantages

Acquire

Yes

No

Time-consuming to complete - requires identifying as many information sources as possible and listing advantages and disadvantages

Modify to reduce time burden

Format of question changed to tick boxes

3. Determine the appropriate study design to answer the question with a reason for the choice

Acquire

Maybe

Maybe

Open-ended question requiring study design and reason for choice

Modify

4. Write a search strategy for the question with a rationale, and state how and why you could limit the search

Acquire

No

No

Consists of three parts and assumes familiarity in conducting MEDLINE searches. Considering that: 1) only 51 % of survey respondents had access to an academic library [4], 2) relatively few (22 %) used the internet to assist them in decision-making, and 3) just under half (42 %) lacked confidence in searching for literature, it was anticipated that many occupational therapists in South Africa may not be familiar with conducting MEDLINE searches. Furthermore, the questions were open-ended and thus demanding to complete

Remove

 

5. Characteristics of a study that are used to determine its relevance to your practice

Appraise

No

No

Requires knowledge of research methods to critically appraise the relevance of a study and the validity, magnitude and significance of the findings. Considering the low confidence levels in research methods and critical appraisal identified in the survey [4] there was some concern that occupational therapist in South Africa would find these items overly challenging. If this induced participants to either omit items or fail to complete them to the best of their ability, the validity of the RCT results would be affected

Remove

 

6. Characteristics of a study that may be used to determine if the findings are valid

Appraise

No

No

 

7. Characteristics of the study findings that are used to determine their magnitude and significance

Appraise

No

No