1. Finding the Best Evidence in the Least Time
June 3, 2015
Caitlin Bakker
Research Services Librarian |

2. Filtered
Information
Unfiltered
Information

3. Searching for Evidence Unfiltered Information
MEDLINE
PubMed
OVID Medline
CINAHL
Web of Science
Scopus
Embase
CAB Abstracts
Google Scholar
Use filters to find the “best” evidence
Filtered Information
General: Cochrane Library, TRIP
Subject Specific: Joanna Briggs (Nursing), PEDro (Physiotherapy), DynaMed (Medicine), ACP PIER (Medicine), ADA’s Evidence Database (Dentistry)
Clinical Practice Guidelines: US Preventive Services Task Force, National Guideline Clearinghouse

4. Asking Focused (Answerable) Questions
Use PICO to help formulate your question
P = Patient/population/problem
I = Intervention (programmatic/therapy/diagnosis)
C = Comparison (sometimes not applicable)
O = Outcome
In the patient/population with this problem, does the invention more than the comparison (if any) result in the outcome?

5. Example
Is cranberry juice effective in preventing urinary tract infections in women with recurrent UTIs? P I C O
= women with recurrent UTIs
= cranberry juice
= none
= prevention of UTIs
Remember: Not all of your PICO terms have to become components of your search

6. Boolean Operators AND = Items that cover both concepts
OR = Items about either one or the other of the concepts, or about both
NOT = Items about only one of the concepts, not including anything about the other concept
The building blocks of a successful search strategy
A way to help you connect your different concepts together
Each circle represents one different core concept (e.g., mental health and homelessness)
The shaded area represents what would actually be searched
AND = connecting major concepts
OR = connecting like terms
NOT = use sparingly at first

7. Putting the Search Together
truncation symbol = search all variations of endings (e.g., read* finds reads, reader, reading…)
search as a phrase
(cranberr* OR "Vaccinium macrocarpon")
AND
(recurr* (UTIs OR "urinary tract infection*"))
nesting = creates an order of operations within your search

8. “Review” meaning systematic review or literature review

9. The “Search Details” box shows you how PubMed has interpreted your search terms

13. Find MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) by moving from PubMed to MeSH in the drop-down menu next to the search box

14. Add the term to your search by clicking here
Add the term to your search by clicking here. Search for each concept individually then select “Search PubMed.”
Subheadings – a particular aspect of the topic, useful in creating a more focused search.
Note: if you do not select a subheading, all will be searched

15. MeSH hierarchy is a tree structure, which includes broader and narrower terms. All the narrower terms (e.g., Pyuria, Bacteriuria) are searched when searching for the broader term, unless you select the circled option above.

16. This subheading was not in use prior to 2002
This subheading was not in use prior to Therefore, using this subject heading would not be sufficient to capture all evidence prior to 2002.

17. See search history by going to “Advanced
See search history by going to “Advanced.” You can use the search builder and Boolean logic to combine your keyword and subject headings searches into a single set of results.

19. You can search using the same techniques that you would for PubMed.
Search limited to publication types associated with the evidence hierarchy (e.g., case studies, cohort studies, RCTs, observational studies)

22. Possible Questions
In hypertensive women with normal cholesterol, do statins reduce the risk of stroke?
Does treadmill training reduce the risk of falls in people with Parkinson’s disease?
In people with nocturnal bruxism, are occlusal splints effective in reducing the severity of episodes?
Are steroid injections more effective than surgery in reducing symptoms in adults with carpal tunnel syndrome?