The process of systematically finding, appraising and using the best available research findings, integrated with clinical expertise, as the basis for clinical decisions about individual patients. The aim is to encourage clinicians, health-service managers and consumers of health care to make decisions, taking account of the best available evidence, on the likely consequences of alternative decisions and actions. Evidence-based medicine has been developing internationally for the past 30 years, but since around 1990 its development has accelerated. Various bodies such as the International Cochrane Collaboration, the NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND CARE EXCELLENCE (NICE) and numerous centres attached to universities and medical schools throughout the world fund, review and publish relevant research.