Evidence-based medicine among Jordanian family physicians: awareness, attitude, and knowledge

To assess family practitioners' attitudes toward and awareness of evidence-based medicine (EBM).

A cross-sectional study from a questionnaire distributed between January and March 2007.

Rural and urban family medicine centres throughout Jordan that are affiliated with the Ministry of Health, military centres, university medical centres, and the private sector.

Two hundred family physicians.

Family physicians' attitudes toward EBM; training in EBM; barriers to practising EBM; level of awareness of and access to EBM journals and databases; and knowledge and understanding of related technical terms.

The response rate was 70.5%. Among those who responded, 56.7% were women and 42.6% were between the ages of 40 and 49 years. More than 50% of the respondents were working in mixed urban and rural practice settings. Most of the respondents had a positive attitude toward EBM: 63.5% welcomed the concept of EBM; more than 40% used EBM in their daily practices; and 90% agreed that practising EBM improved patient care. Of the respondents, 42.6% thought that the best way to move from opinion-based medicine to EBM was through learning the skills of EBM. Fifty percent of the respondents had access to MEDLINE, while only 20.4% of them had received formal training in research and critical appraisal. Lack of personal time was the main perceived barrier to practising EBM. Participants reported a low level of awareness of some of the technical terms.

Jordanian family physicians showed eagerness to learn and implement EBM in their daily practices. Nevertheless, they need more guidance and training to ensure the correct application of EBM ideals.