The language of evidence based medicine: answers to common questions?

Evidence based medicine (EBM) is an expanding field that combines clinical intuition with the best available evidence in clinical decision making. The shift to evidence based rationale encourages educating future physicians to formulate appropriate research questions and develop critical appraisal skills that are needed to practice EBM. This article identifies areas where clinicians may struggle with epidemiological terminology when critically appraising the literature. A review of the relevant terminology encountered in studies that focus on therapy, harm, diagnosis and prognosis can be beneficial to the clinician and are explained within this article.