Seven characteristics of medical evidence Journal Articles

abstract

• AbstractThis paper outlines seven essential characteristics of medical evidence and describes the implications of these for both the theory of evidence‐based medicine and clinical practice. The seven characteristics are: (1) Provisional; (2) Defeasible; (3) Emergent; (4) Incomplete; (5) Constrained; (6) Collective and (7) Asymmetric. It is argued that the epistemological theory that best fits medical evidence is that of fallibilism.

authors

• Upshur, Ross

status

• published 

publication date

• May 2000

has subject area

• 1117 Public Health and Health Services (FoR)
• Ethics, Medical (MeSH)
• Evidence-Based Medicine (MeSH)
• Health Care Rationing (MeSH)
• Health Policy & Services (Science Metrix)
• Humans (MeSH)
• Jurisprudence (MeSH)

published in

• Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice  Journal

keywords

• Ethics, Medical
• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Health Care Rationing
• Humans
• Jurisprudence

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1046/j.1365-2753.2000.00244.x

PubMed ID

• 10970003

start page

• 93

end page

• 97

volume

• 6

issue

• 2