Limits of search filter development.

Objective: The research attempted to develop search filters for biomedical literature databases that improve retrieval of studies of clinical relevance for the nursing and rehabilitation professions.

Methods: Diagnostic testing framework compared machine-culled and practitioner-nominated search terms with a hand-tagged clinical literature database.

Results: We were unable to: (1) develop filters for nursing, likely because of the overlapping and expanding scope of practice for nurses in comparison with medical professionals, or (2) develop filters for rehabilitation, because of its broad scope and the profession's multifaceted understanding of "health and ability.

Interventions for Enhancing Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART): A Systematic Review of High Quality Studies.

We sought to review the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) from studies included in a recent Cochrane review that reported a clinical and an adherence outcome, with at least 80% follow-up for 6 months or more. Data were extracted independently and in duplicate, with an adjudicator for disagreements. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.

Technology-mediated interventions for enhancing medication adherence.

Background: Despite effective therapies for many conditions, patients find it difficult to adhere to prescribed treatments. Technology-mediated interventions (TMIs) are increasingly being used with the hope of improving adherence.

Objective: To assess the effects of TMI, intended to enhance patient adherence to prescribed medications, on both medication adherence and clinical outcomes.

Interventions for enhancing medication adherence.

Background: People who are prescribed self administered medications typically take only about half their prescribed doses. Efforts to assist patients with adherence to medications might improve the benefits of prescribed medications.

Objectives: The primary objective of this review is to assess the effects of interventions intended to enhance patient adherence to prescribed medications for medical conditions, on both medication adherence and clinical outcomes.

Increasing the quantity and quality of searching for current best evidence to answer clinical questions: protocol and intervention design of the MacPLUS FS Factorial Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background & Aims: Finding current best evidence for clinical decisions remains challenging. With 3,000 new studies published every day, no single evidence-based resource provides all answers or is sufficiently updated. McMaster Premium LiteratUre Service--Federated Search (MacPLUS FS) addresses this issue by looking in multiple high quality resources simultaneously and displaying results in a one-page pyramid with the most clinically useful at the top.

Adherence measurement and patient recruitment methods are poor in intervention trials to improve patient adherence.

Objectives: To develop a scale and survey the measurement of patient adherence and patient recruitment, and to explore how these methods impact the results in randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve patient adherence to medications.

Study Design: Analytic survey of a purposively selected sample of patient adherence intervention trials from a systematic review, assessing the quality of adherence measurement and patient recruitment methods.

Results: We identified 44 different measures of adherence, with qualities ranging from valid and objective to unreliable and subjective.

High-performance information search filters for CKD content in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and EMBASE.

Background: Finding relevant articles in large bibliographic databases such as PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and EMBASE to inform care and future research is challenging. Articles relevant to chronic kidney disease (CKD) are particularly difficult to find because they are often published under different terminology and are found across a wide range of journal types.

Study Design: We used computer automation within a diagnostic test assessment framework to develop and validate information search filters to identify CKD articles in large bibliographic databases.

High-performance information search filters for acute kidney injury content in PubMed, Ovid Medline and Embase.

Background: We frequently fail to identify articles relevant to the subject of acute kidney injury (AKI) when searching the large bibliographic databases such as PubMed, Ovid Medline or Embase. To address this issue, we used computer automation to create information search filters to better identify articles relevant to AKI in these databases.

Methods: We first manually reviewed a sample of 22 992 full-text articles and used prespecified criteria to determine whether each article contained AKI content or not.

Net improvement of correct answers to therapy questions after pubmed searches: pre/post comparison.

Background: Clinicians search PubMed for answers to clinical questions although it is time consuming and not always successful.

Objective: To determine if PubMed used with its Clinical Queries feature to filter results based on study quality would improve search success (more correct answers to clinical questions related to therapy).

Methods: We invited 528 primary care physicians to participate, 143 (27.

WhatisKT wiki: a case study of a platform for knowledge translation terms and definitions--descriptive analysis.

Background: More than a hundred terms, often with unclear definitions and varying emphases, are used by health research and practice communities across the world who are interested in getting the best possible evidence applied (e.g., knowledge translation, implementation science, diffusion of innovations, and technology transfer).

How current are leading evidence-based medical textbooks? An analytic survey of four online textbooks.

Background: The consistency of treatment recommendations of evidence-based medical textbooks with more recently published evidence has not been investigated to date. Inconsistencies could affect the quality of medical care.

Objective: To determine the frequency with which topics in leading online evidence-based medical textbooks report treatment recommendations consistent with more recently published research evidence.

MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years.

Objective: To determine if the PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE clinical queries (which were developed in the publishing year 2000, for the purpose categories therapy, diagnosis, prognosis, etiology, and clinical prediction guides) perform as well when searching in current publishing years.

Methods: A gold standard database of recently published research literature was created using the McMaster health knowledge refinery (http://hiru.mcmaster.

The quality, breadth, and timeliness of content updating vary substantially for 10 online medical texts: an analytic survey.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of evidence reporting, breadth of coverage, and timeliness of content updating of 10 selected online medical texts.

Study Design And Setting: Each text was assessed for quality based on an 11-item scale, which included items related to editorial policy and updating, appraisal, and transparent incorporation of newly published clinical research and evidence-based guidelines. Breadth of coverage was determined by the percentage of 60 randomly selected International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD-10) codes covered by each of the texts.

Dialysis search filters for PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and Embase databases.

Background And Objectives: Physicians frequently search bibliographic databases, such as MEDLINE via PubMed, for best evidence for patient care. The objective of this study was to develop and test search filters to help physicians efficiently retrieve literature related to dialysis (hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis) from all other articles indexed in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and Embase.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: A diagnostic test assessment framework was used to develop and test robust dialysis filters.

Glomerular disease search filters for Pubmed, Ovid Medline, and Embase: a development and validation study.

Background: Tools to enhance physician searches of Medline and other bibliographic databases have potential to improve the application of new knowledge in patient care. This is particularly true for articles about glomerular disease, which are published across multiple disciplines and are often difficult to track down. Our objective was to develop and test search filters for PubMed, Ovid Medline, and Embase that allow physicians to search within a subset of the database to retrieve articles relevant to glomerular disease.

Search filters can find some but not all knowledge translation articles in MEDLINE: an analytic survey.

Objective: Advances from health research are not well applied giving rise to over- and underuse of resources and inferior care. Knowledge translation (KT), actions and processes of getting research findings used in practice, can improve research application. The KT literature is difficult to find because of nonstandardized terminology, rapid evolution of the field, and it is spread across several domains.

How well are journal and clinical article characteristics associated with the journal impact factor? a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Journal impact factor (JIF) is often used as a measure of journal quality. A retrospective cohort study determined the ability of clinical article and journal characteristics, including appraisal measures collected at the time of publication, to predict subsequent JIFs.

Methods: Clinical research articles that passed methods quality criteria were included.

Impact of PubMed search filters on the retrieval of evidence by physicians.

Background: Physicians face challenges when searching PubMed for research evidence, and they may miss relevant articles while retrieving too many nonrelevant articles. We investigated whether the use of search filters in PubMed improves searching by physicians.

Methods: We asked a random sample of Canadian nephrologists to answer unique clinical questions derived from 100 systematic reviews of renal therapy.

Kidney transplantation search filters for PubMed, Ovid Medline, and Embase.

Background: Clinicians commonly search bibliographic databases such as Medline to find sound evidence to guide patient care. Unfortunately, this can be a frustrating experience because database searches often miss relevant articles. We addressed this problem for transplant professionals by developing kidney transplantation search filters for use in Medline through PubMed and Ovid Technologies, and Embase.

Search filter precision can be improved by NOTing out irrelevant content.

Background: Most methodologic search filters developed for use in large electronic databases such as MEDLINE have low precision. One method that has been proposed but not tested for improving precision is NOTing out irrelevant content.

Objective: To determine if search filter precision can be improved by NOTing out the text words and index terms assigned to those articles that are retrieved but are off-target.

Development and validation of filters for the retrieval of studies of clinical examination from Medline.

Background: Efficiently finding clinical examination studies--studies that quantify the value of symptoms and signs in the diagnosis of disease-is becoming increasingly difficult. Filters developed to retrieve studies of diagnosis from Medline lack specificity because they also retrieve large numbers of studies on the diagnostic value of imaging and laboratory tests.

Objective: The objective was to develop filters for retrieving clinical examination studies from Medline.

Computerized clinical decision support systems for chronic disease management: a decision-maker-researcher partnership systematic review.

Background: The use of computerized clinical decision support systems (CCDSSs) may improve chronic disease management, which requires recurrent visits to multiple health professionals, ongoing disease and treatment monitoring, and patient behavior modification. The objective of this review was to determine if CCDSSs improve the processes of chronic care (such as diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of disease) and associated patient outcomes (such as effects on biomarkers and clinical exacerbations).

Methods: We conducted a decision-maker-researcher partnership systematic review.

Computerized clinical decision support systems for acute care management: a decision-maker-researcher partnership systematic review of effects on process of care and patient outcomes.

Background: Acute medical care often demands timely, accurate decisions in complex situations. Computerized clinical decision support systems (CCDSSs) have many features that could help. However, as for any medical intervention, claims that CCDSSs improve care processes and patient outcomes need to be rigorously assessed.