PEER - Evidence Summaries - Guidelines

Most Recent Tools for Practice

Tools for Practice #282 – Osteoporosis treatment for post-menopausal women

How effective are bisphosphonates and denosumab in preventing fractures in post-menopausal women?

Bottom Line: Bisphosphonates and denosumab are similarly effective at reducing risk of fracture in post-menopausal women. Over 1-4 years, bisphosphonates or denosumab provide an absolute reduction of ~0.5-1.0% for hip fractures, ~1.5-3% for non-vertebral fractures and ~3-6% for vertebral fractures compared to placebo. Read More

25 February 2021

Tools for Practice #283 – COVID-19 and Vitamin D: Partners in Crime, or Simply Associates?

Does Vitamin D help prevent or treat COVID-19?

Bottom Line: While observational evidence suggests an association between low vitamin D levels and COVID-19 infection, it is unclear if this is simply reflective of overall health status. There are no randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) assessing vitamin D for prevention of COVID-19 infections. The highest quality RCT of vitamin D treatment during hospitalization did not demonstrate benefit for clinical outcomes. Read More

8 February 2021

Tools for Practice #281 – Hindsight: Top 5 Tools for Practice of 2020

Hindsight: Top 5 Tools for Practice of 2020

Hindsight: Top 5 Tools for Practice of 2020 Read More

11 January 2021

Tools for Practice #280- COVID Vax Fast Facts: Say That 10 Times Fast

What are the benefits and risks of the three COVID-19 vaccines likely available soon in Canada?

Interim results of two large randomized, placebocontrolled trials (RCTs) demonstrate ~95% relative efficacy in preventing COVID-19 (Pfizer, Moderna). The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine has ~70% relative efficacy. Absolute benefits will vary with baseline risk and time but if annual risk of developing COVID-19 is 20%, then vaccine would decrease risk to 1% (6% with AstraZeneca/Oxford). These vaccines appear safe and may decrease the likelihood of severe COVID-19. Ongoing studies should provide further details. Read More

21 December 2020

Tools for Practice #279- What’s under the Mistletoe? Some fun holiday evidence from PEER

Are there any therapeutic benefits to kissing?

Bottom Line: Kissing freely for 30 minutes while listening to soft music may improve surrogate markers of atopy (like wheal reactions on allergy test). Another small RCT found that advice to increase kissing improved relationship satisfaction and even slightly reduced (0.15mmol/L) total cholesterol. We did not identify studies of mistletoe. Further research is required. Read More

14 December 2020

PEER Values

When creating primary care education and programs, the PEER team focuses on minimizing bias, patient orientated outcomes, shared decision making, collaboration and most importantly simplicity.

Who is PEER?

Patients, Experience, Evidence and Research (PEER) was formed between a group of primary care providers who shared a common belief that evidence should be made accessible to all primary care providers.