Abstract: There have been growing reservations about the appropriateness of dismissing anecdotal evidence as a significant and acceptable form of clinical evidence.
The question is explored here as to whether anecdotal evidence has attracted appropriate recognition in the biological sciences, and further should it be ranked higher that its current status as providing significant clinical evidence.
The authors could not locate any scientific study which conclusively justified the relegation of anecdotal evidence to the level it is currently rated. They concluded that it is only the current narrative that has swept away anecdotal evidence without due investigation and scientific assessment of a notion that seemed to have merit. This appears to have become a self-perpetuating trend, in being dismissive of what some would regard as a lower level of formal evidence in health care.
Contrary to this, there has been mounting support for appreciating the contribution that this model of evidence can offer, and that it should therefore be afforded greater recognition within the hierarchy of evidence.
Author keywords: Anecdotal evidence - Evidence-based medicine - Evidence-based practice - Hierarchy of evidence -
Clinical guidelines
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