Research tool - Regroupement Les sages-femmes du Québec (RSFQ)

How do you find “good” tools in the age of misinformation and information overload?

Evaluate the quality of information

Search results
Clinical knowledge (professional associations like RSFQ, NCIM, CAM)
Academic expertise
Experience, ancestral knowledge

All these sources are valid and have their place in the compilation and transmission of information. Here is an image to better visualize the evidence hierarchy, the top of the pyramid representing stronger evidence.

Clarify the issue

Before starting our search for information, it is important to:

What are we looking for (have a clear question in mind)?
Determine keywords for the search.
Identify quality research sites.
Have the tools to evaluate the articles or data found.

Not all published research is “good research”. It is important to opt for research sites that are constantly updated and that allow access to the full article (open source/open access).

Choosing a trusted site in the context of midwifery

Examples of preferred research sites in the midwifery context:

Health evidence de McMaster,a canadian university that allows research in French and English
Cochrane Library

For clinical tools:
ACCESS

Evaluation of the selected article

The article will generally follow the following structure:

Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion

Assessment tracks:

Who is funding it?
Who is the author(s) (do they have the required expertise in the field)? Have the authors’ conflicts of interest been declared? The first author is often the one who will have played the biggest role in the study, so it can be interesting to see what other work he/she has produced.
Has the article been peer reviewed?
When was it published, is it up to date?
Is the structure consistent? Is the methodology clear?
What was carried out? (type of research, characteristics of the participants, recruitment, research and instruments used)
What are the most significant results, what is the statistical value of the results?
If percentages are given, what is the sample size? What is the confidence interval?
Is the population comparable to the one for which I am looking for information?
Are references numerous and diversified?

GRADE methodology

When developing clinical guidelines: consider the GRADE tool

An international team of researchers have created a method to improve systems for evaluating evidence and scoring recommendations when developing clinical guidelines. They developed the GRADE tool.

GRADE: Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation.

The GRADE method aims to classify evidence according to levels of high, moderate, low or very low quality. This systematic approach differs in that the quality of the evidence is assessed for each outcome of each study and not just according to the type of study (e.g. a randomized study will not be automatically superior).

It encourages transparency and the consideration of important results, allowing a better distribution of the advantages and disadvantages, and a better understanding of how and why the recommendations were formulated despite the fact that consensus cannot be reached.

More concretely, the tool makes it possible to qualify the recommendations in a clinical guide (e.g. weak or strong recommendation, quality of evidence high, medium, low or very low).

For more informations:
l’Association ontarienne des sages-femmes
l’Université Laval

Make sure you understand the terms and definitions

The Canadian Association of Midwives’ Immunization Glossary can be a helpful tool.

Definition of key epidemiology concepts in clinical research in this glossary.

To go further in the understanding of concepts in statistics such as the confidence interval, measurement of tendency of dispersion, measurement of central tendency. Check out these quick videos on the Statistics Canada site.

Other sources for finding relevant information related to vaccination

Associations website

Regroupement Les sages-femmes du Québec

Association canadienne des sages-femmes

Association of Ontario midwives

Société des obstétriciens et gynécologues du Canada

National council of Indigenous midwives

Mobile app (développed by the Association of Ontario midwives)

For Iphone and Android

COVID-19 resources for midwives

RM Rx for Midwives (Certaines informations sur les vaccins ici)

Government Resources