Dissemination of Evidence-Based Medicine by Taiwan Evidence-Based Medicine Association
2Department of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan
3Taipei Veterans General Hospital; National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
4Department of Dermatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan
5Cochrane Taiwan, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan
6Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan
Background: Taiwan Evidence-Based Medicine Association (TEBMA) was established in 2007 to promote the implementation of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). It is not clear what impact TEBMA has on the dissemination of EBM.
Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate how TEBMA disseminated EBM in Taiwan.
Methods: We reviewed the annual reports of TEBMA. In addition, we interviewed the stakeholders of TEBMA to investigate the effectiveness of the activities of TEBMA.
Results: Over the 15 years, TEBMA provided abundant EBM-related activities, such as workshops, annual conferences, and EBM competitions. A variety of workshops were conducted every 1 to 2 months with the duration of 8-12 hours for beginners, instructors, advanced experts, and researchers. The lectures comprise basic and advanced implementation, such as how to teach EBM, how to conduct systematic review and meta-analysis, and how to implement EBM. Invited lecturers came from worldwide, such as Taiwan, Singapore, America, and so on. The average number of attendees for workshops was about 350 each year. There were decreased numbers of attendees to 200 each year in the recent three years of COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, there was a steady increase in the publication of EBM-related articles in Taiwan, especially in systematic review and meta-analysis. In addition, TEBMA has hosted national conferences since 2008. The average number of attendees from hospitals and universities in Taiwan for the annual conference was about 450 each year. Furthermore, TEBMA set up a peer-reviewed journal called Evidence Counts with two issues each year. Overall, the active members of TEBMA are increasing year by year. Members have a privileged discount for all activities above.
Conclusions: TEBMA has important achievements in the dissemination of EBM. With the efforts of TEBMA to promote EBM, EBM has been an accredited important skill for personal career and hospital management. The establishment of TEBMA is successful in the promotion of EBM. Our findings provide evidence to show a model in the dissemination of EBM.
Patient, public, and/or healthcare consumer involvement: None.