Critical appraisal workshops to promote evidence-based healthcare

We evaluated the effect of literature appraisal workshops on participants views, attitudes and knowledge about evidence-based medicine in the West Midlands region in 1998. The performance of 55 practitioners was evaluated, before and after attending the workshop. After attending the workshop, participants paid more attention to the study design (81% vs. 98%, P=0.02), they did not find research evidence confusing (35% vs. 52%, P=0.05), and they felt more confident in assessing research evidence (26% vs. 59%, P=0.0001). Their mean knowledge scores improved from 47.3 (SD12.2) to 57.9 (SD 9.0) ( P=0.0001). Our critical appraisal skills workshops improved attitudes and knowledge needed for the provision of evidence-supported healthcare. Such workshops should be incorporated in postgraduate obstetrics and gynaecology training programmes.