Assessing the Implementation, Attitudes, and Competencies of Evidence-Based Practice among Healthcare Professionals in the Middle East: A Cross-Sectional Study
This cross-sectional study of 518 healthcare professionals across the Middle East reveals that while attitudes toward and self-reported skills in evidence-based practice are modestly positive, actual implementation remains critically low, highlighting an urgent need for targeted educational and organizational interventions to bridge the evidence-to-practice gap.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
In the modern world of medicine, the ideal way to treat a patient is not simply to rely on a doctor's memory or years of experience alone. Instead, the gold standard is a method called evidence-based practice. This approach asks clinicians to pause and look for the best available scientific research, combine it with their own clinical expertise, and then blend that with the specific values and needs of the patient sitting in front of them. It is a three-part balance: what the science says, what the doctor knows, and what the patient wants. While this idea is widely taught in medical schools and embraced by health organizations around the globe, a persistent question remains: does it actually happen in the daily routine of hospitals and clinics? Many experts suspect that while doctors and nurses may agree that this method is good in theory, the reality of their busy workdays often prevents them from using it.
To find out if this gap between belief and action exists in the Middle East, a large team of researchers from universities across Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and other nations in the region conducted a broad survey. They wanted to see how healthcare professionals in their part of the world were actually using these scientific methods. The team asked 518 licensed doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical staff to fill out a detailed questionnaire. These were not students or administrators; they were people currently working with patients and had at least one year of experience in their field. The survey covered three main areas: what the professionals thought about using research (their attitudes), how much they felt they knew about finding and understanding that research (their skills), and how often they actually used it in their work (their practice). The survey was conducted electronically over five weeks in late 2025, gathering responses from a diverse mix of medical specialties and countries.
The results painted a clear picture of a region where the heart is willing, but the hands are not yet fully trained or supported. The healthcare professionals surveyed generally held positive views about evidence-based practice. They agreed that it was important and believed it should be part of their job. Their self-reported knowledge and skills were also moderate to high, suggesting that many felt capable of understanding scientific studies. However, when the researchers looked at what these professionals actually did in their daily work, the numbers dropped sharply. Only a small fraction of the participants were classified as having high levels of actual practice. In fact, three out of four participants were found to be using evidence-based methods only rarely or not at all in their daily routines. This created a distinct divide: the medical staff knew the method was good and felt they had the tools to do it, but they were not doing it.
The study also explored who was more likely to use these methods and why. The researchers found that age and years of experience mattered. Older professionals and those who had been working longer tended to use evidence-based practices more often than their younger, less experienced colleagues. Similarly, those who had received specific formal training in research methods or evidence-based medicine were more likely to use it. The place where a person worked also made a difference; staff in university teaching hospitals used these methods more frequently than those in government hospitals that did not teach students. Interestingly, the study found that a person's gender, their specific job title (whether they were a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist), or the specific country they worked in did not significantly change how much they used these methods. The barriers seemed to be universal across the region, affecting everyone regardless of their specific role or nationality.
The researchers concluded that the main problem is not a lack of belief or a lack of knowledge, but a failure to translate that knowledge into action. The gap between what medical staff know and what they do is wide. The study suggests that simply teaching the theory of evidence-based practice is not enough. To fix this, medical schools and hospitals need to change how they teach and how they support their staff. They need to move beyond classroom lectures and help professionals learn how to apply these methods quickly and easily while they are treating patients. Without these changes, the valuable scientific research that could improve patient care will likely continue to sit on shelves, unused, while the daily work of healing continues without it.
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