Mailing List

Subscribe or unsubscribe to the KT Canada mailing list

Login

Welcome

Signup

  • By checking this, you are certifying that 1) you qualify for KTTC membership, 2) you support the mission and vision of the KTTC and 3) you will fulfil the minimum expectations of KTTC members. For more information, see Joining the KTTC.

Once you have signed up, you will receive a confirmation email with your username and password. To activate your account, follow the instructions in the email.

If you are applying to be a KTTC member, your membership will need to be manually approved. This approval process may take up to 7 business days.

 

Centre for Evidence-
Based Medicine

Systematic Reviews: Clinical Scenario

In your out-patient clinic you see a 27 year old postgraduate student who describes long-standing depression, tiredness and lack of enjoyment. You diagnose dysthymia, but do not consider that there is a current superimposed depressive illness. You wonder about prescribing antidepressants. However, you are unsure which type of antidepressants are most effective in dysthymia or, indeed, whether there is evidence supporting their use in dysthymia at all. You formulate the clinical question 'in adults with dysthymia (problem), do antidepressants (intervention) improve mood (outcome) more than placebo (comparison intervention)?'

Fortunately, you have The Cochrane Library on your laptop in clinic. You enter the search term 'dysthymia'. In a second or two, it reveals that there are three completed systematic reviews of possible relevance, including one entitled 'drugs versus placebo for dysthymia'. Clicking on this title reveals the full text of the review, including a structured abstract.

Read the article and decide:

  1. Is the evidence from this systematic review valid?
  2. Is this valid evidence from this systematic review important?
  3. Can you apply this valid and important evidence from this systematic review in caring for your patient?

Continue to completed worksheet

[back to top of page]