Learning Objective #1: Describe the process of critical appraisal

Learning Objective #2: Define the role of critical appraisal in professional practice

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More than ever, health care professionals have evidence available to inform their practice. There are approximately thirty thousand journals published annually, with more than thirteen million papers cited in MEDLINE. With the abundance of literature available to health practitioners to influence and direct the care they provide, it is increasingly important that they are aware of the need for critical appraisal. The three principle aims of the critical appraisal process are; considering the relevance of the research question posed, evaluating the evidence that has been collected to answer the question, and assessing the validity of the evidence and the conclusions drawn from it1.

Although many health courses teach critical appraisal, there are few tools that are readily available to assist teachers and students to conduct appraisal in a structured and consistent manner. RAPid (Rapid Appraisal Protocol Internet Database) is a self-directed internet based resource developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute to assist students and practitioners to develop and enhance their critical appraisal skills, using established data collection tools and offers them the possibility of publishing this appraisal in the form of a refereed report, in the RAP Library. RAPid has been developed specifically for students of medicine, nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, medical radiation, dietetics and other health sciences. RAPid is designed to include processes to appraise and summarise evidence from a wide range of sources including the results of prognostic, risk, interventional, economic, experiential and diagnostic study types, as well as systematic reviews of intervention.

1. Avis M. 1994, Reading research critically. 1. ‘An introduction to appraisal: designs and objectives', Journal of Clinical Nursing, 3, p227-234.