Find out about and access the following databases:
- Physical therapy specific databases
- More general databases
PEDro  has been developed to give physical therapists and others rapid access to bibliographic details and abstracts of randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews and evidence based clinical guidelines in physical therapy. Most trials on the database have been rated for quality to help to quickly discriminate between trials that are likely to be valid and interpretable and those that are not.
The Centre for Evidence Based Physiotherapy  maintains a database with the top 500 full text physiotherapy articles (as rated by PeDro). This can be searched or papers reviewed alphabetically by author. They are then accessible as pdfs . There is also access to clinical measurement tool information.
The Centre aims to:
- collect and provide evidence based information to physiotherapists by means of web based applications, courses and publications;
- develop, maintain and update evidence based Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) for physiotherapy care;
- develop, test and validate indicator driven physiotherapy and patient care;
- facilitate benchmarking of physiotherapy practices and patient data;
- perform implementation research of guidelines;
- maintain a database with RCT’s, reviews and guidelines relevant to the physiotherapy profession;
- maintain a database with outcome measures (full text) and their clinimetric properties (under development) specific for the physiotherapy domain;
- maintain a database with the top full text physiotherapy articles (as rated by PeDro)
- perform these activities in an international setting.
Hooked on Evidence  is an online database that provides access to extractions of articles on the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions. A standardised format is used by contributors to summarise information on the study design, methods, interventions, and outcomes. Measures of treatment effect size are calculated from available data in the original article. The database includes peer-reviewed articles that represent a number of study designs including randomised clinical trials, cohort studies, case-control studies and case reports. International physical therapists or physical therapist students who live in a country other than the United States and are not eligible for membership in the American Physical Therapy Association can receive access to Hooked on Evidence by becoming an International Partner. Access information on the International Partners Program . Joining this programme will also provide access to "Open Door:" APTA's Portal to Evidence-Based Practice. Free online access to full-text articles and abstracts from more than 1,000 health care-oriented journals, magazines, and periodicals.
The Cochrane Library  consists of a regularly updated collection of evidence based medicine databases:
- The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: The abstracts of Cochrane Reviews are available without charge, and can be browsed or searched.
- The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (see UK NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Databases below)
- The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register: CCTR is a bibliography of controlled trials identified by contributors to the Cochrane Collaboration and others. CCTR includes reports published in conference proceedings and in many other sources not currently listed in MEDLINE or other bibliographic databases.
- The Cochrane Methodology Register: A bibliography of articles and books on the science of research synthesis.
- The NHS Economic Evaluation Database (see UK NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Databases below)
- Health Technology Assessment Database (see UK NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Databases below)
- Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews (CDMR): Includes the full text of systematic reviews of empirical methodological studies prepared by The Cochrane Empirical Methodological Studies Methods Group
Residents in a number of countries or regions can access The Cochrane Library online for free .
It also includes:
Health-Evidence.ca  is a free database of review articles on a variety of health topics. Citation, abstract and strength of evidence ratings are included.
The UK NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Databases  includes:
- Database of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE): DARE includes structured abstracts of systematic reviews from around the world, which have been critically appraised by reviewers at the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York, England. DARE also contains references to other reviews which may be useful for background information. At the end of August 2007 the database contained 4,805 abstracts
- NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHSEED): A register of published economic evaluations of health care interventions. Economic evaluation records include a structured summary and a qualitative assessment together with details of any practical implications for the NHS.
- Health Technology Database (HTA): The HTA database contains information on healthcare technology assessments and is produced in collaboration with the secretariat of the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA).
You can search databases together or separately.