Why does it matter?

We've seen that EBP is important because it can take a long time to disseminate the results of research and we need a different approach to publishing to keep track of research. More important than both of these is the fact that what we believe about health care interventions can be wrong:

"Half of what you are taught as medical students will in ten years have been shown to be wrong. And the trouble is, none of your teachers knows which half." Dr Sydney Burrell, Dean of Harvard Medical School, quoted in Sackett et al (2000), p29.

Our knowledge of biology is imperfect; it can lead us to do things which don't work or even are harmful. The development of robust research methods, especially randomised controlled trials (RCTs) has been central to the recognition and resolution of this problem. By creating similar groups of patients, RCTs enable us to see what difference a treatment makes to outcomes without having to deal with the precise biological mechanics of how it works.

They have also shown many instances where flawed biological knowledge has led us to do the wrong thing. We'll look at how in more detail later.