Japanese resident physicians' attitudes, knowledge, and perceived barriers on the practice of evidence based medicine: A survey

Background: Evidence based medicine plays a crucial role as a tool that helps integrate research evidence into clinical practice. However, few reports have yet to examine its application in daily practice among resident physicians in Japan. The aim of this study was to assess the attitudes towards and knowledge of EBM among resident physicians in Japanese and determine perceived barriers to its use. Findings. A cross-sectional, self-administered anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 60 resident staffs at Saga University Hospital in Japan. Forty residents completed and returned the questionnaire. Fifty four percent of respondents understood the basic terminology of EBM, 3% could explain this to others, and 41% indicated they would like to understand the terminology more. Thirteen percent admitted having a good understanding of EBM basic skills. Fifty respondents indicated having read EBM sources, but only 3% indicated that they use these sources in clinical decision making. The most prominent barriers of EBM application revealed in this study were insufficient time to access the sources, a lack of native language references, and insufficient basic EBM skills, but not scepticism about the EBM concept. Conclusions: In general, respondents positively welcomed EBM, and moderately understood and knew basic EBM skill; however, barriers in its application were shown to exist. © 2011 Risahmawati et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.