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BMC Medical Research Methodology

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Open Access 01-12-2009 | Research article

Locating sex-specific evidence on clinical questions in MEDLINE: a search filter for use on OvidSP™

Authors: Clara J Moerman, Rikie Deurenberg, Joke A Haafkens

Published in: BMC Medical Research Methodology | Issue 1/2009

Abstract

Background

Many recently published clinical studies report sex-specific data. This information may help to improve clinical decision-making for both sexes, but it is not easily accessible in MEDLINE. The aim of this project was to develop and validate a search filter that would facilitate the retrieval of studies reporting high quality sex-specific data on clinical questions.

Methods

A filter was developed by screening titles, abstracts and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in a set of 80 high quality and relevant papers, 75 of which were identified through a review of clinical guidelines and five through other means. The filter, for use on OvidSP™, consists of nine command lines for searching free text words in the title, abstract and MeSH of a paper. It was able to identify 74/80 (92.5%) of the articles from which it was derived. The filter was evaluated in a set of 622 recently published original studies on Alzheimer's disease and on asthma. It was validated against a reference of 98 studies from this set, which provided high quality, clinically relevant, sex-specific evidence. Recall and precision were used as performance measures.

Results

The filter demonstrated 81/98 (83%) recall and 81/125 (65%) precision in retrieving relevant articles on Alzheimer's disease and on asthma. In comparison, only 30/98 (31%) recall would have been achieved if sex-specific MeSH terms only had been used.

Conclusion

This sex-specific search filter performs well in retrieving relevant papers, while its precision rate is good. It performs better than a search with sex-specific MeSH. The filter can be useful to anyone seeking sex-specific clinical evidence (e.g., guideline organizations, researchers, medical educators, clinicians).

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The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/9/25/prepub

Title: Locating sex-specific evidence on clinical questions in MEDLINE: a search filter for use on OvidSP™
Authors: Clara J Moerman
Rikie Deurenberg
Joke A Haafkens
Publication date: 01-12-2009
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Medical Research Methodology / Issue 1/2009
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2288
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-9-25

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Locating sex-specific evidence on clinical questions in MEDLINE: a search filter for use on OvidSP™

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

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