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Identifying observational studies of surgical interventions in MEDLINE and EMBASE

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fraser2006bmcmedresmethodol41.pdf (252.2Kb)
Date
18/08/2006
Author
Fraser, Cynthia Mary
Murray, Alison Catherine
Burr, Jennifer Margaret
Keywords
RD Surgery
QA76 Computer software
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Abstract
Background: Health technology as sessments of surgical interventions frequently require the inclusion of non-randomised evidence. Literature search strategies employed to identify this evidence often exclude a methodological component because of uncertainty surrounding the use of appropriate search terms. This can result in the retrieval of a large number of irrelevant records. Methodological filters would help to minimise this, making literature searching more efficient. Methods: An objective approach was employed to develop MEDLINE and EMBASE filters, using a reference standard derived from screening the results of an electronic literature search that contained only subject-related terms. Candidate terms for MEDLINE (N = 37) and EMBASE (N =35) were derived from examination of the records of the reference standard. The filters were validated on two sets of studies that had been included in previous health technology assessments. Results: The final filters were highly sensitive (MEDLINE 99.5%, EMBASE 100%, MEDLINE/EMBASE combined 100%) with precision ranging between 16.7% – 21.1%, specificity 35.3% – 43.5%, and a reduction in retrievals of over 30%. Against the validation standards, the individual filtersretrieved 85.2% – 100% of records. In combination, however, the MEDLINE and EMBASE filters retrieved 100% against both validation standards with a reduction in retrieved records of 28.4% and 30.1% Conclusion: The MEDLINE and EMBASE filters were highly sensitive and substantially reduced the number of records retrieved, indicating that they are useful tools for efficient literature searching.
Citation
Fraser , C M , Murray , A C & Burr , J M 2006 , ' Identifying observational studies of surgical interventions in MEDLINE and EMBASE ' , BMC Medical Research Methodology , vol. 6 , 41 . https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-6-41
Publication
BMC Medical Research Methodology
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-6-41
ISSN
1471-2288
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2006 Fraser et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/6/41/
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/4651

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