Natural Language Processing in Support of Evidence-based Medicine: A Scoping Review

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xu, Zihan, Ma, Haotian, Zhang, Gongbo, Ding, Yihao, Weng, Chunhua, Peng, Yifan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866909626039009280
author Xu, Zihan
Ma, Haotian
Zhang, Gongbo
Ding, Yihao
Weng, Chunhua
Peng, Yifan
author_facet Xu, Zihan
Ma, Haotian
Zhang, Gongbo
Ding, Yihao
Weng, Chunhua
Peng, Yifan
contents Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is at the forefront of modern healthcare, emphasizing the use of the best available scientific evidence to guide clinical decisions. Due to the sheer volume and rapid growth of medical literature and the high cost of curation, there is a critical need to investigate Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods to identify, appraise, synthesize, summarize, and disseminate evidence in EBM. This survey presents an in-depth review of 129 research studies on leveraging NLP for EBM, illustrating its pivotal role in enhancing clinical decision-making processes. The paper systematically explores how NLP supports the five fundamental steps of EBM -- Ask, Acquire, Appraise, Apply, and Assess. The review not only identifies current limitations within the field but also proposes directions for future research, emphasizing the potential for NLP to revolutionize EBM by refining evidence extraction, evidence synthesis, appraisal, summarization, enhancing data comprehensibility, and facilitating a more efficient clinical workflow.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_22280
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Natural Language Processing in Support of Evidence-based Medicine: A Scoping Review
Xu, Zihan
Ma, Haotian
Zhang, Gongbo
Ding, Yihao
Weng, Chunhua
Peng, Yifan
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is at the forefront of modern healthcare, emphasizing the use of the best available scientific evidence to guide clinical decisions. Due to the sheer volume and rapid growth of medical literature and the high cost of curation, there is a critical need to investigate Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods to identify, appraise, synthesize, summarize, and disseminate evidence in EBM. This survey presents an in-depth review of 129 research studies on leveraging NLP for EBM, illustrating its pivotal role in enhancing clinical decision-making processes. The paper systematically explores how NLP supports the five fundamental steps of EBM -- Ask, Acquire, Appraise, Apply, and Assess. The review not only identifies current limitations within the field but also proposes directions for future research, emphasizing the potential for NLP to revolutionize EBM by refining evidence extraction, evidence synthesis, appraisal, summarization, enhancing data comprehensibility, and facilitating a more efficient clinical workflow.
title Natural Language Processing in Support of Evidence-based Medicine: A Scoping Review
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.22280