Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: There are currently few systematic reviews addressing questions of the performance of measurement instruments. Evaluations of the validity, reliability and feasibility of methods of measurement are not consistently and specifically indexed on most electronic databases. There are no existing search filters to aid the retrieval of such studies.
Objectives: To develop a search strategy to identify evaluations of the performance of wound measurement instruments.
Methods: An initial scoping search performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL using two free-text terms generated 450 hits, of which 50 were relevant evaluations. These 50 studies subsequently served as a minimum set that had to be retrieved in order to demonstrate non-inferiority of future search strategies to the scoping search. The list of free-text terms was expanded, focusing on words relating to study design, outcomes, methods of analysis, and measurement instruments. Three lists of search terms, consisting of subject headings and free-text terms, were then generated: wound terms (e.g. pressure ulcer, using strategies developed by the Cochrane Wounds Group); measurement terms (e.g. planimetry), and size terms (e.g. surface area). Different combinations of these three lists were tested in MEDLINE. Testing consisted of checking for retrieval of the original 50 studies, plus examination of other hits. Then, adjacency terms were explored and adjustments made to the lists of search terms. This was tested in MEDLINE, and adapted for use in EMBASE, CINAHL, and other databases.
Results: Each combination of the three lists (wound, measurement and size terms) initially produced an unmanageable number of references (>3,000 from MEDLINE alone), generated many irrelevant references, and failed to retrieve some of the 50 original evaluations. Following adjustment, an optimal search strategy was derived, generating 1,750 hits in MEDLINE, with all 50 original articles identified, plus a further 90 relevant references. The strategy adapted successfully to other databases.
Conclusions: A comprehensive list of search terms relating to wounds, as developed by the Cochrane Wounds Group, combined with a small group of free-text terms relating to measurement proved to be the optimal search strategy.
Objectives: To develop a search strategy to identify evaluations of the performance of wound measurement instruments.
Methods: An initial scoping search performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL using two free-text terms generated 450 hits, of which 50 were relevant evaluations. These 50 studies subsequently served as a minimum set that had to be retrieved in order to demonstrate non-inferiority of future search strategies to the scoping search. The list of free-text terms was expanded, focusing on words relating to study design, outcomes, methods of analysis, and measurement instruments. Three lists of search terms, consisting of subject headings and free-text terms, were then generated: wound terms (e.g. pressure ulcer, using strategies developed by the Cochrane Wounds Group); measurement terms (e.g. planimetry), and size terms (e.g. surface area). Different combinations of these three lists were tested in MEDLINE. Testing consisted of checking for retrieval of the original 50 studies, plus examination of other hits. Then, adjacency terms were explored and adjustments made to the lists of search terms. This was tested in MEDLINE, and adapted for use in EMBASE, CINAHL, and other databases.
Results: Each combination of the three lists (wound, measurement and size terms) initially produced an unmanageable number of references (>3,000 from MEDLINE alone), generated many irrelevant references, and failed to retrieve some of the 50 original evaluations. Following adjustment, an optimal search strategy was derived, generating 1,750 hits in MEDLINE, with all 50 original articles identified, plus a further 90 relevant references. The strategy adapted successfully to other databases.
Conclusions: A comprehensive list of search terms relating to wounds, as developed by the Cochrane Wounds Group, combined with a small group of free-text terms relating to measurement proved to be the optimal search strategy.