Evidence briefs
A brief takes one question - does this help, for whom, by how much - and reads the strongest research on it: systematic reviews first, then the large trials. It is one page, in plain words, under headings that never change, and it always says where the evidence is weak.
A brief is not our opinion. It is our account of what the research shows, written so you can check it: every brief links the reviews it rests on and says when we last looked.
What every brief contains
The same seven headings, in the same order, so briefs can be read beside one another and a limitation cannot be quietly left out.
- 01Key messagesTwo or three sentences a reader could repeat to a friend.
- 02What we wanted to find outThe question in plain words, and who it applies to.
- 03What the research didStudy type, how many people, for how long, compared with what.
- 04What it foundIn absolute terms - how many people out of a hundred - never only as a percentage change.
- 05Where the evidence is weakAlways present. Small numbers, short follow-up, surrogate measures, who funded it.
- 06How current this isWhen the literature was last searched, and when we last checked.
- 07The bottom lineOne strength label, the study type, and what, if anything, it changes here.
The bottom line uses five phrases
- Strong and consistent
- Several good studies, in people, pointing the same way, with an effect large enough to matter to a person rather than a spreadsheet.
- Promising but early
- Real signal, but from small studies, short follow-up, animal work or a single trial that has not yet been repeated.
- Mixed
- Good studies disagree, or the effect appears in some groups and not others. Honest answer: it depends, and we say on what.
- Insufficient
- Too little research in people to say either way. Not the same as evidence of no effect; it means nobody has properly looked yet.
- Not something we offer
- We have looked, and either the evidence is against it or the risk is not justified by what it might do. We say which.
The first briefs
The first briefs are being written by our clinicians and will appear here as each is signed off. We would rather show you an empty shelf and the rules for what goes on it than fill it with something nobody has checked.
They will follow the twelve topics, one question at a time: