Hooked on Evidence

How to Use the Database

What is Hooked on Evidence?

Hooked on Evidence is a database on the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions.  It was designed to give clinicians quick and easy online access to current research.  All articles in the database are from peer reviewed journals and are summarized by physical therapists.  The articles range from case reports to randomized controlled research studies and are integrated with the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice. 

Hooked on Evidence began as a grassroots effort and now has over 500 published entries.  Therapists from all over the nation have contributed to the database by searching the literature for relevant articles and then completing an online extraction form summarizing the articles.  The APTA then reviews the summaries and adds them to the database.  No special research skills are required to submit reviews for the database. 

Why is Hooked on Evidence Important?

Physical therapists and therapist assistants need to be able to identify interventions that have been proven to be effective for different patient populations and have access to evidence that justifies physical therapy treatment.  Hooked on Evidence provides a database designed specifically for the physical therapy profession to meet these needs.   

How to use Hooked on Evidence

1.  Log on to the APTA website to use Hooked on Evidence,

http://www.apta.org/hookedonevidence/index.cfm. 

2.      Once in the database, members open the search option by clicking on Search in the left hand side of the page. 

3.      Members can search the reviews by using keywords, such as back pain, cerebral vascular accident or total knee arthroplasty.

4.      All relevant articles will be displayed.  Members can quickly read about the experimental design of the study, patient population studied, the interventions used, the outcomes measured in the study and the effectiveness of the intervention. 

5.      Every entry has an internet link to the articles’ official abstract through PubMed, a free Medline search engine.

Members can also see the groups that have already been set up to focus on different interventions by clicking on the Groups link.

For more information on Hooked on Evidence, contact David Scalzitta, PT, MS, OCS, APTA’s Associate Director of Research Services at 800-999-2782, ext. 8555.

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