Planning the Literature Search
Systematic Reviews
CLARA S. FOWLERMSLS, AHIPResearch Services and Assessment ManagerResearch Medical LibraryUniversity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
What is your experience with literature searching?
1) I search EMBASE or CINAHL or CENTRAL frequently2) I search MEDLINE using the Ovid interface frequently3) I search PubMed frequently4) I’ve searched one or more of these databases infrequently5) I’ve heard of these databases, but never searched them
Experience?
1) Create a Searchable Question
2) Preliminary Searching Strategies
3) Search, Organize & Report Results
Agenda
High-quality systematic reviews seek to:
Identify all relevant published evidence through systematic searching of multiple literature databases
Systematic Reviews
http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/painres/download/whatis/syst-review.pdf
Use PICO format
Create list of KEY CONCEPTS
Identify SYNONYMS & ACRONYMS
Create a Searchable Question
Glucocorticoids injections are known to relieve shoulder pain but their effect usually wears off after six to eight weeks. Traditionally, a doctor uses anatomic landmarks around the shoulder to guide the injection into the desired location.
Sometimes imaging techniques, such as ultrasound, are used to more accurately guide the injections into the specific sore part of the shoulder. It is not known if image-guided injection relieves the symptoms of shoulder pain more effectively than if the injection was delivered without imaging, either into the shoulder, or injected into muscle away from the shoulder (e.g., into the buttocks muscle).
Clinical Scenario
In patients with shoulder pain, do image-guided glucocorticoid injections improve patient-relevant outcomes over landmark-guided or systemic intramuscular glucocorticoid steroid injections?
P (Patient): Shoulder painI (Intervention): Image-guided glucocorticoid injectionsC (Comparison): landmark-guided or systemic intramuscular glucocorticoid steroid injections O (Outcome(s)): Pain, function, range of motion, overall improvement, and reduction of adverse events
Create PICO Question
What are the most important elements of this search?
How can you make sure that your search is comprehensive?
P (Patient): Shoulder pain
Include conditions that would create shoulder pain as well as a search for shoulder pain
Shoulder pain: shoulder impingement syndrome, rotator cuff, bursitis, adhesive capsulitis, tendonitis, periarthritis
Identify SYNONYMS
I (Intervention): Image-guided glucocorticoid injections
Create a search for glucocorticoid injections, image-guided will be too restrictive a concept
Glucocorticoid: adrenal cortex hormones, steroid, subacromial, triamcinolone, methylprednisolone, prednisone, betamethasone…Injections: injected, inject
Identify SYNONYMS
Create a comprehensive list of keywords with alternate spellings
Use truncation
Use adjacencyglucocorticoid adj3 inject*
Keywords
Questions?
Executing the Search
Systematic Reviews
Stehanie FultonMSIS, AHIPExecutive DirectorResearch Medical LibraryUniversity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Journal ArticlesMeeting Abstracts
Clinical TrialsWebsites
Publication Types
MEDLINEEMBASEWeb of ScienceCINAHLPsycINFOCENTRALOthers?
Select Databases to SearchCochrane LibraryPROSPEROCampbell LibraryPubMed Health
Most databases have a thesaurus or list of subject headings
• MeSH - MEDLINE• EMTREE - EMBASE
• CINAHL Headings
Look up all relevant subject headings for each concept in your search
Selectively explode terms
Subject Headings
Sample Search Term Spreadsheet
Create MEDLINE Strategy and review line-by-line with co-authors
Use PRESS checklist to review all key search methods
Draft Strategy
Cochrane LibraryMEDLINEEMBASEWeb of ScienceCINAHLPsycINFOPubMedGrey Literature
Translate Search Strategy into Other Databases
Databases & websites searchedDates of search Limits appliedNumber of references identified Full search strategy
Search Documentation
No consensus exists on searching reported methods for systematic reviews. J Clin Epidemiolg. 2008 (8): 748-754.
Sampson M, McGowan J, Tetzlaff J, Cogo E, Moher D. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2007.10.009
TipsRun the Final Searches within 24 Hours
Save search strategy in database as well as in a .txt file
Last update search should be done within 6-months of submission for publication
Questions?
Managing Results & Documentation
Systematic Reviews
Laurissa GannMSIS, AHIPEducation & Reference ManagerResearch Medical LibraryUniversity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1. Exporting to EndNote
2. Organizing Search Results
3. De-duplication with EndNote
Citation Management
Excel Workbook
PRISMADocumentation
Questions?
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