Do Mongolian rehabilitation physicians use evidence-based medicine? A questionnaire survey / Монголын Анагаах Ухаан

ABSTRACT

Objectives: We aim to determine rehabilitation physicians’ attitudes toward and awareness of evidence-based medicine (EBM), level of knowledge and its usage, and barriers to implement it. Design: Cross-sectional survey from a questionnaire distributed in 2010. Setting: The rehabilitation physicians that participated in nation-wide rehabilitation congress in Mongolia. Participants: 58 rehabilitation physicians who responded to a questionnaire (77.3% response rate). Main outcome measures: Rehabilitation physicians’ attitudes toward EBM, level of knowledge and understanding of related technical terms of EBM, clinical use of EBM, level of awareness of and access to EBM literature and databases, and barriers to implementing EBM. Results: Most of the respondents had a positive attitude toward EBM; 91.4% agreed that the use of evidence in practice was necessary; 87.9% agreed that EBM improved patient care; 94.7% were interested in improving the skills necessary to implement EBM. Respondents had a low level knowledge of EBM. Only 39% of the respondents had been trained in EBM, and reported a low level of awareness of some of the technical terms. The practice of evidence-based medicine by a rehabilitation physician was insufficient. Most respondents obtained information of evidence that was necessary for practice from a textbook. Higher than half of the respondents stated they read fewer than 2 articles in a typical month. The primary barrier to implementing EBM was lack of research skills. Conclusion: The respondents had a positive attitude towards EBM and were interested in improving the skills necessary to implement EBM. In the future, the importance of EBM and medical statistics in undergraduate education is suggested. In addition, measures for EBM skill improvement among rehabilitation physicians is of urgent necessity.