Abstract
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) involves three principles: (1) more confident decisions result from having better research evidence; (2) the best available evidence for a particular outcome is not informed solely by any single study, but rather by the accumulated evidence of all pertinent studies; and (3) when making decisions, the evidence about the relative benefits and harms of the available options is necessary but not sufficient to make a clinical decision. EBM requires that the patients’ perspectives, beliefs, expectations, goals for life and health, values, preferences, and contexts be considered. There are three effective treatments for GD: thyroidectomy, radioactive iodine, and antithyroid drugs. These options differ in their efficacy, safety, convenience, and costs; none is clearly superior to the others for all patients. Thus, the best option for a patient will depend on ensuring the patients and clinicians make informed decisions consistent with the body of best available evidence and the appropriate application of the last principle by the implementation of shared decision making and decision aids.
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Brito, J.P., Montori, V.M. (2015). Evidence-Based Discussion of Treatment Options for Graves’ Disease. In: Bahn, R. (eds) Graves' Disease. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2534-6_5
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