Critical Appraisal Questionnaires for Scientific Evidence

Critical appraisal is the process of carefully and systematically assessing the outcome of scientific research (evidence) to judge its trustworthiness, value and relevance in a particular context. Critical appraisal looks at the way a study is conducted and examines factors such as internal validity, generalizability and relevance.

Some initial appraisal questions you could ask are:

1. Is the evidence from a known, reputable source?
2. Has the evidence been evaluated in any way? If so, how and by whom?
3. How up-to-date is the evidence?

Second, you could look at the study itself and ask the following general appraisal questions:

1. How was the outcome measured?
2. Is that a reliable way to measure?
3. How large was the effect size?
4. What implications does the study have for your practice? Is it relevant?
5. Can the results be applied to your organization?

Questionnaires

If you would like to critically appraise a study, we recommend using the following appraisal questionnaires (checklists) for specific study designs.

Data extraction forms

Below you can find data extraction forms for when you conduct a (mini) CAT