Instruments that measure evidence-based practice knowledge, skills, and attitudes among health professions students: A systematic review protocol

Abstract

Background Evidence-based practice (EBP) is recognized as a foundational element of health professional education worldwide. The Sicily Statement is a five-step model for both clinical practice and teaching EPB: Ask, Acquire, Appraise, Apply, Audit (or evaluate) [Dawes M, et al. BMC Med Educ. 5(1):1 (2005)]. Evaluating EBP competence in health professions’ students is critical to develop strategies that build that competence and ultimately lead to optimal patient care. Rationale There are many EBP measurement instruments that have been identified in previous reviews, but none that were intended for the health professions student population [Tilson JK, et al. BMC Med Educ. 11:78 (2011)]. Objective This systematic review aims to summarize and evaluate the measurement properties of existing instruments that evaluate health professions students’ EBP competence including EBP knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Methods The systematic review was registered with PROSPERO under the identifier CRD42024564908. This systematic review will follow an adapted version of the eight-step process for systematic reviews for patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)(3). The adaptations will align with the research question and EBP measurement instruments that are the primary target of this review. The search strategy will employ key words and phrases from the objective targeting following electronic databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscuss, and PsycINFO, all via EBSCO. Nine psychometric measurement properties will act as the foundation for data extraction and evaluation of the measurement instruments. Data will be extracted and risk of bias will be completed on an individual study basis and on an EBP measurement instrument basis. A unique GRADE reporting system will be employed that accounts for a single conclusion based on a composite of the nine measurement properties and synthesized results from all studies.