Using research to guide practice: The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro)

Abstract

Background: The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) is a free, preeminent, global resource to support evidence-based physical therapy. PEDro provides rapid access to randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and clinical practice guidelines evaluating physical therapy interventions.

Methods: This paper describes the PEDro scale, PEDro contents, who uses PEDro, searching, browsing the latest content, and developing skills in evidence-based physical therapy. Strategies specifically developed to break down barriers for Portuguese-speaking physical therapists are emphasized.

Results: All trials indexed in PEDro are assessed for methodological quality using the 10-point PEDro scale. These ratings are used to rank search results. In August 2019 PEDro indexed 44,309 articles: 34,619 trials, 9004 reviews, and 686 guidelines. The number of trials is predicted to double by 2025. PEDro users come from 214 countries. Physical therapists in Brazil are the largest users (23% of all searches). Physical therapists are encouraged to use the PEDro advanced search page to find answers for their clinical questions. PEDro's 'Evidence in your inbox' allows physical therapists to browse the latest content. To assist users develop skills in evidence-based physical therapy, PEDro includes tutorials and a series of 'how to' videos. PEDro web-site is fully available in Portuguese and English.

Conclusion: PEDro facilitates the use of high-quality clinical research by physical therapy clinicians, educators, students, and researchers. In 2019 PEDro celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Some enhancements to mark this milestone include launching a new database called DiTA (Diagnostic Test Accuracy) that focuses on the accuracy of diagnostic tests used by physical therapists.

Keywords: Evidence-Based practice; PEDro.; Physical therapy; Physiotherapy Evidence Database.

Fig. 1

Cumulative number of articles reporting randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines indexed in PEDro each year.

Fig. 2

Number of articles reporting randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines according to the subdisciplines of physical therapy. Note: as each article can be classified for more than one subdiscipline, the total number of articles in this graph does not match the total number of articles in PEDro.

Fig. 3

A Percentage of articles reporting randomized controlled trials indexed in PEDro that satisfy each item of the PEDro scale. B. Total PEDro score (mean and standard deviation) of articles reporting randomized controlled trials indexed in PEDro since 1929, displayed in 5-year intervals (except for the first and last intervals, which are 20 and 6 years, respectively). The number of trials for each period is indicated at the top of each bar. Note: this graph is based on ratings for 33,787 trials with complete data. The remaining 832 trials indexed in PEDro are in-process, so have not been rated using the PEDro scale yet.

Fig. 4

PEDro searches across the world (A) and in Brazil (B) for the year between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019. Darker colour indicates greater number of PEDro searches.

Fig. 5

The simple (panel A) and advanced (panel B) search interfaces for PEDro.