Information Use Behavior of Clinicians in Evidence-Based Medicine Process in Thailand

Objective: To investigate the information-use behavior of Thai clinicians in the evidence-based medicine (EBM) process. Material and Method: Based on the survey research, 198 questionnaires were sent to EBM clinicians working in public hospitals in Thailand. The data were analyzed by mean, percentage, and factor analysis. Results: One hundred and fifty-seven questionnaires (79.3%) were returned. The results revealed that 52.9% of the clinicians used EBM process in clinical practice at a high level and 41.4 % at a moderate level. Most respondents (91.7%) used information for supporting their teaching and learning process as well as for professional self-development. About two-third used information for supporting their clinical decision. The types of information that the clinicians used in high percentage were research articles from medical journals (89.7%), systematic reviews (83.4%), textbooks, and reference books in the medical field (80.8%). The information resources that were often used including Internet resources (84.1%), hospital or medical school libraries (73.7%), expert consultation (59.8%), and the medical record unit (41.9%). Most of the respondents (89.7%) used PubMed, search engine (85.6%) and Cochrane Library (56.4%) as the tools for accessing information. Most respondents frequently had accessed to information 2-3 days a week and 93.7 % of them preferred to access information resources via the Internet by themselves at their office or home. For searchin