Study of information use and the practice of evidence-based veterinary medicine amongst New Zealand rural veterinarians

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the forms of information resources that New Zealand rural veterinarians are consulting in order to make decisions regarding patient care and what level of evidence - based veterinary practice is currently being adopted by this group. Members of the New Zealand Association of Rural Veterinary Practices were surveyed as a census using a structured questionnaire. A mixed methodology approach was adopted and the questionnaire utilised both closed and open questions in order to obtain data with which to address this study's research problems. Whilst all participants had access to a range of information resources in both online and print form, practitioners tended to prefer the opinion of colleagues or veterinary websites when making practice decisions in consultation situations as these sources could be accessed quickly. This is despite the fact that the currency or quality of these resources may not always be known. Although the majority of participants were confident communicating information to clients and applying their own practice experience to new information in order to treat their patients, it seems that at least 32.5% of respondents felt uncomfortable critically evaluating the information sources that they base practice decisions upon. This is of concern as the ability to critically appraise information is a vital component of the practice of evidence - based veterinary medicine, especially given the widely varying quality of veterinary resources currently available for use by practitioners. The response rate for this study was considered low, with only 44% of practices sampled responding to the questionnaire (comprising a total of forty individual participants). As such it was not possible to consider findings obtained from the participant group as being representative of the association or profession as a whole, although data obtained did work to outline possible trends of information access and use amongst New Zealand rural veterinarians and highlight areas which would benefit from further investigation.