efix - generally we get only few class files / jar file updated replacing that will old one will work.
patch - this generally contain class / jar / xmls /xhtml / sql and other files , so always it’s better to take the file backup and database backup so that in case you need to revert it back you can get to old database and revert to old file system.
GA - same as patch .
So i would say better take a decision based on the changes which is coming as part of efix , but its always better to take backups .