As an active sponsor of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)'s Foundation for Physical Therapy, PREFERRED supports APTA's Hooked on Evidence initiatives. Below is an update regarding APTA's progress and efforts that support the clinical effectiveness of physical therapy.

In less than two years, over 1000 extractions of research articles on the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions have been added to APTA's Hooked on Evidence database. These extractions represent a portion of the evidence available for physical therapy practice. Each extraction contains information on the study, design, methods, and characteristics of study participants, as well as the interventions studied and outcomes of the interventions. The current size of the database is the result of the efforts of hundreds of physical therapy clinicians and students.

During 2003, measures of treatment effectiveness were added to APTA's Web site. The measures represent the magnitude of a treatment effect and are displayed in each extraction for each outcome when data in the original article allows for their calculation. For continuous outcomes, treatment effect size is represented by the Absolute Mean Difference and the Standardized Mean Difference. Measures of treatment effectiveness calculated for each dichotomous outcome are the Odds Ratio, Risk Ratio, and the Number Needed to Treat.

Section on Research members have been active in the Hooked on Evidence project since its inception entering extractions and in spreading the word about the initiative. Recently, over 100 Section members have volunteered to compare the extractions published to the database with the original research articles. The feedback received from these reviewers has been valuable in improving the overall quality of each extraction.

Plans for Hooked on Evidence in 2004 include identifying areas of practice for which a substantial amount of literature has been entered into the database and have begun to combine studies on similar interventions to determine a pooled measure of treatment effectiveness. The Advisory Panel on Research along with expert consultants is scheduled to meet early in 2004 to help guide these efforts. Also, in 2004, APTA members who publish extractions to Hooked on Evidence will be eligible to receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for their efforts.

Hooked on Evidence is available to APTA members at www.hookedonevidence.com or by following hyperlinks from the APTA website and Section on Research Web site under Section and Research. Your Member ID and Last Name are required to log in. Once logged in, you may search among the published extractions for evidence for your practice and view the enhancements to the Web site.

As Hooked on Evidence is a work in progress, additional volunteers are needed to contribute extractions to the database. For those having difficulty choosing an article to enter, APTA's Research Services Department has started to keep a list of recent effectiveness articles that we would like to have added to the database. Physical therapist researchers who have published on the effectiveness of interventions are also welcome to enter their own studies. To contribute to this important initiative, or for more information on Hooked on Evidence, please contact David Scalzitti, PT, MS, OCS, Associate Director of Research Services at davidscalzitti@apta.org or by phone at (800) 999-2782 , extension 8555.