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BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Published in: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 1/2008

Open Access 01-12-2008 | Research article

Analysis of queries sent to PubMed at the point of care: Observation of search behaviour in a medical teaching hospital

Authors: Arjen Hoogendam, Anton FH Stalenhoef, Pieter F de Vries Robbé, A John PM Overbeke

Published in: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making | Issue 1/2008

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Abstract

Background

The use of PubMed to answer daily medical care questions is limited because it is challenging to retrieve a small set of relevant articles and time is restricted. Knowing what aspects of queries are likely to retrieve relevant articles can increase the effectiveness of PubMed searches. The objectives of our study were to identify queries that are likely to retrieve relevant articles by relating PubMed search techniques and tools to the number of articles retrieved and the selection of articles for further reading.

Methods

This was a prospective observational study of queries regarding patient-related problems sent to PubMed by residents and internists in internal medicine working in an Academic Medical Centre. We analyzed queries, search results, query tools (Mesh, Limits, wildcards, operators), selection of abstract and full-text for further reading, using a portal that mimics PubMed.

Results

PubMed was used to solve 1121 patient-related problems, resulting in 3205 distinct queries. Abstracts were viewed in 999 (31%) of these queries, and in 126 (39%) of 321 queries using query tools. The average term count per query was 2.5. Abstracts were selected in more than 40% of queries using four or five terms, increasing to 63% if the use of four or five terms yielded 2–161 articles.

Conclusion

Queries sent to PubMed by physicians at our hospital during daily medical care contain fewer than three terms. Queries using four to five terms, retrieving less than 161 article titles, are most likely to result in abstract viewing. PubMed search tools are used infrequently by our population and are less effective than the use of four or five terms. Methods to facilitate the formulation of precise queries, using more relevant terms, should be the focus of education and research.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Analysis of queries sent to PubMed at the point of care: Observation of search behaviour in a medical teaching hospital
Authors
Arjen Hoogendam
Anton FH Stalenhoef
Pieter F de Vries Robbé
A John PM Overbeke
Publication date
01-12-2008
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making / Issue 1/2008
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6947
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6947-8-42

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