ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)1998
From trial data to practical knowledge: qualitative study of how general practitioners have accessed and used evidence about statin drugs in their management of hypercholesterolaemia.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1998. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 141 citations in OpenAlex.
- BRAZILIAN GASTROENTEROLOGY FEDERATION (FBG) CLINICAL GUIDELINE: DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF EOSINOPHILIC ESOPHAGITIS IN ADULTS AND ADOLESCENTS.Arquivos de gastroenterologia · 2025Guideline
- Pooled it
- Describing knowledge encounters in healthcare: a mixed studies systematic review and development of a classification.Implementation science : IS · 2017Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of the placebo response in acute migraine and how this response may be influenced by some of the characteristics of clinical trials.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2006Pooled it
- A cluster randomised controlled trial of a pharmacist-led collaborative intervention to improve statin prescribing and attainment of cholesterol targets in primary care.PloS one · 2014 · on this mapTrial
- Impact of short evidence summaries in discharge letters on adherence of practitioners to discharge medication. A cluster-randomised controlled trial.Quality & safety in health care · 2007Trial
- Rapid effects of simvastatin on lipid profile and C-reactive protein in patients with hypercholesterolemia.Clinical cardiology · 2003Trial
- Efficacy of case method learning in general practice for secondary prevention in patients with coronary artery disease: randomised controlled study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2002Trial
- Behavioural counselling in general practice for the promotion of healthy behaviour among adults at increased risk of coronary heart disease: randomised trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 1999Trial
- Factors influencing acceptance, adoption and adherence to sentinel node biopsy recommendations in the Australian Melanoma Management Guidelines: a qualitative study using an implementation science framework.Implementation science communications · 2022Article
- Impact of lowering the risk threshold for statin treatment on statin prescribing: a descriptive study in English primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
- Why are statin prescribing guidelines for primary prevention not always followed in primary care?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016Article
- The barriers and facilitators to the implementation of clinical guidance in elective orthopaedic surgery: a qualitative study protocol.Implementation science : IS · 2015Article
- How well establishment of research plans can improve scientific ranking of medical universities.Iranian Red Crescent medical journal · 2015Article
- Barriers and facilitators to the uptake of computerized clinical decision support systems in specialty hospitals: protocol for a qualitative cross-sectional study.Implementation science : IS · 2014Article
- Article
- An ethnographic exploration of influences on prescribing in general practice: why is there variation in prescribing practices?Implementation science : IS · 2013Article
- Experimenting clinical pathways in general practice: a focus group investigation with italian general practitioners.Journal of public health research · 2012Article
- A survey of the attitude and practice of research among doctors in Riyadh Military Hospital Primary Care Centers, Saudi Arabia.Journal of family & community medicine · 2012Article
- GPs' views in five European countries of interventions to promote prudent antibiotic use.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo explore how general practitioners have accessed and evaluated evidence from trials on the use of statin lipid lowering drugs and incorporated this evidence into their practice. To draw out the practical implications of this study for strategies to integrate clinical evidence into general medical practice.
designQualitative analysis of semistructured interviews.
settingGeneral practices in Lothian. SUBJECTS: 24 general practitioners selected to obtain a heterogeneous sample.
resultsRespondents were generally aware of the evidence relating to the use of statins in secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, but they were less clear about the evidence in primary prevention. The benefits of statins in secondary prevention were clearer to them and the social and economic issues less complex than was the case for use in primary prevention. Respondents rarely said they appraised the methods and content of trials, rather they judged the trustworthiness of the source of trial evidence and interpreted it within the context of the economic and social factors which impinge on their practice. Moreover, trial data become relevant for routine practice only when underpinned by a consensus on these issues.
conclusionStrategies to promote incorporation of evidence from clinical trials into everyday practice are likely to be effective if they tap into and build on the process of local consensus building. Strategies such as teaching critical appraisal skills and guideline development may have little effect if they are separated from this process.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.