10-year review highlights reach and limits of BestBETs for Vets

CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: A 10-year review of the BestBETs for Vets database suggests the veterinary evidence resource has built meaningful global reach, but its content has remained concentrated in a relatively narrow set of topics. The study reviewed 96 critically appraised topics, or CATs, across 27 subject areas, with canine medicine and reproduction appearing most often. The authors also found users from more than 190 countries accessed the site, most commonly by going there directly rather than through search or referral traffic. BestBETs for Vets, developed by the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine, is designed to give clinicians quick, structured summaries of the best available evidence for focused clinical questions. More broadly, CATs are one of several structured tools used to support clinical decision-making, much as causality assessment tools in pharmacovigilance are tailored to specific settings, outcomes, or patient groups rather than serving as one-size-fits-all resources. (nottingham.ac.uk)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the paper is less about a single clinical finding and more about how evidence gets used in practice. Critically appraised topics are meant to bridge the gap between primary research and day-to-day decision-making, and they’re also used in undergraduate and postgraduate training to teach literature searching, appraisal, and evidence-based care. The review’s picture of strong international use, paired with a relatively small catalogue over a decade, points to both the value of these tools and the challenge of keeping them broad, current, and easy to find for busy clinicians. That challenge is familiar across evidence-support tools: a recent scoping review of case-level causality assessment tools identified 18 tools developed or updated between 2008 and 2023, most of them algorithm-based and often built for narrow contexts such as drug-induced liver injury, severe cutaneous adverse reactions, pediatrics, neonatal intensive care, or vaccines. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: Whether the findings prompt expansion of CAT coverage, faster updating cycles, or closer integration with other veterinary evidence platforms and training programs. In parallel, the broader evidence-tools literature is moving toward more context-specific methods and, in some areas, possible use of biomarkers to strengthen assessments—an example of how structured decision-support resources may continue to evolve. (nottingham.ac.uk)