Week 2 [Study5] Strategies for Searching the Literature Using PubMed

PICO

• Problem

• Intervention

• Comparison

• Outcome

How to use PubMed

Searching for scientific evidence

• Search box for medical subject heading (MeSH database)

• Developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)

  • Part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM)

• Contains 36+ millions citations from MEDLINE

• Entrez system

Components of PubMed

• Search box

• MeSH database

  • Helps group terminology together to find relevant articles

• Advanced search

MeSH tree

• Move up the tree to broader term

Entry terms

• Synonyms, alternative names

Example

• Stannous fluoride = entry term

• Tin fluorides = Official MeSH term

Boolean operators

• And

  • Results contain entered search terms

  • Retrieve from both

  • Narrows search

• Or

  • At least one of the terms

  • Broadens search

• Not

  • Excludes term from search

  • Caution — may exclude relevant citations

Using multiple boolean operators

• Use parentheses

• (tooth erosion OR tooth wear) AND (stannous fluoride toothpaste) AND (sodium fluoride)…

Advanced search bar

• Can use #2 AND #3 if want to search same term again

• Must use # sign before number

Filter on the side

• Filter text availability, article type, publication dates

• Addition features

  • Check article types, language, age

Article type

• Filters studies by level of evidence

• If none found = clear all

  • Click on next level of evidence

Publication date

• Filter to range of years or show additional features

PubMed Clinical queries

• Answers clinical questions for professionals and students

• Contains clinical study categories (therapy, diagnosis, etiology, prognosis)

→ Change scope to narrow