Similar to the index card method of recording researched information, CATs are a personal method of documenting the results of any article in medical literature for a specific clinical problem.
3 These records are simply summaries of a study and its results that a physician can create for later retrieval, review, and reuse (
Figure 1). The most thorough CATs consist of the article title, the clinical “bottom line,” the clinical question, a summary of the results, comments, the date the study was published, and any relevant citations.
3 A more detailed description of these components is available in
Figure 2.
4 Physicians may choose to share their CATs with colleagues, in which case physicians should also include their name or initials as the CAT appraiser.
A CAT is not a systematic review and should not be considered a practice guideline because the information found in it may not be authoritative.
3 However, physicians will begin to refine and improve their EBM skills after summarizing varying clinical issues in this fashion.
3