Have you ever read an abstract to an article and thought you have found a great therapeutic solution to a problem only to find out later that the research was flawed, or inconclusive or stating something entirely different than what it appeared in the abstract? A critically appraised topic (CAT) is a readable summary of evidence of a topic focused on a clinical question. In a CAT, there are several studies included that are appraised to answer the question. A critically appraised paper (CAP) is a summary and appraisal of a single study. Both can be useful in better understanding clinical research.
Critical appraisal carefully reviews a study or group of studies to judge their significance and applicability as well as credibility. In addition, it looks at the design of the studies and examines strength, validity and generalizability.
Learning to both write and read CAPs and CATs can be fun and invigorating. The process helps hand therapists become better consumers of the vast amount of science and literature that comes across our desktops.
Please stay tuned, as – for the first year ever – ASHT will announce a call for abstracts that includes a CAP or CAT as a poster presentation at the ASHT Annual Meeting. We hope reading the CATs and CAPs at the poster display and discussing the outcomes with the submitter will stimulate rich reflection on current science and stimulate further clinical questions.