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Abstract
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The use of evidence to guide clinicians' practice, known as Evidence Based Practice or EBP, has been an increasing area of interest worldwide. Its concepts started in medicine, the initial term was Evidence Based Medicine or EBM [1] and eventually, the concepts were adopted and used by other health professions wanting to provide the best management to achieve optimum outcomes for patients and clients, therefore the term EBP was coined [2].
Sports medicine and rehabilitation is one area where the application of EBP is most valuable. It covers the prevention, evaluation, management and rehabilitation of injuries brought about by participation in athletic and sports activities. Given this broad area of practice, it is very important that the best evidence is used to make informed decisions regarding client management.
There are issues however, in the use and application of the best evidence in making decisions regarding client management. Quite a large number of systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials have been done to provide evidence on what works best in the field of sports medicine and rehabilitation. Lack of access to access the evidence and lack of applied and relevant evidence for very specific cases are major barriers to busy sports medicine professionals [3]. Given these constraints, applying the concepts of EBP becomes challenging. However, is the use of EBP in sports medicine and rehabilitation really difficult and challenging? If it is, how can it be made easier and pragmatic for sports medicine professionals? |