Chapter 4: Effective Search Strategies for Systematic Reviews of Medical Tests

• Published in: Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM Vol. 27; no. Suppl 1; pp. 28 - 32
• Main Author: Relevo, Rose
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer-Verlag 01.06.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bibliographic data bases; Databases, Bibliographic; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures - standards; Evidence-Based Medicine - methods; Evidence-Based Medicine - standards; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Information retrieval; Information Storage and Retrieval - methods; Information Storage and Retrieval - standards; Internal Medicine; Medical tests; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Research; Review Literature as Topic; Systematic review; Vocabulary, Controlled; information retrieval; systematic reviews; bibliographic databases
• ISSN: 0884-8734; 1525-1497; 1525-1497
• DOI: 10.1007/s11606-011-1873-8

ABSTRACT This article discusses techniques that are appropriate when developing search strategies for systematic reviews of medical tests. This includes general advice for searching for systematic reviews and issues specific to systematic reviews of medical tests. Diagnostic search filters are currently not sufficiently developed for use when searching for systematic reviews. Instead, authors should construct a highly sensitive search strategy that uses both controlled vocabulary and text words. A comprehensive search should include multiple databases and sources of grey literature. A list of subject-specific databases is included in this article.