Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: At present, we do not have an efficient tool to locate systematic reviews of child health interventions.
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of existing search strategies in locating systematic reviews of healthcare interventions in children using the PubMed interface.
Methods: We evaluated three existing search strategies for locating systematic reviews irrespective of age range. The sensitivity of the search strategies was defined as the number of child health systematic reviews retrieved compared to a 'gold standard' set of child health systematic reviews. The 'gold standard' was established by searching for MEDLINE-indexed paediatric systematic reviews in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) in The Cochrane Library and by handsearching five years of seven MEDLINEindexed paediatric journals. The precision of the search strategies was defined as the number of relevant systematic reviews retrieved divided by the total number of records retrieved; the positive predictive value (precision) of the search strategies was evaluated by applying the strategies to five priority topics identified by the Cochrane Child Health Field.
Results: We identified 431 systematic reviews in children or neonates in DARE (The Cochrane Library 2004, Issue 2: n=4645), of which 302 were indexed in MEDLINE. In the handsearch of the first four volumes of the seven paediatric journals we identified 59 systematic reviews of which 26 were also in DARE. Thus, our 'gold standard' to date contains 335 ((302 + 59 - 26) systematic reviews. The handsearching was completed on 31 March 2006. Data on the sensitivity and precision of the three search strategies will be presented at the Colloquium.
Conclusions: We present sensitivity and precision of three search strategies in locating systematic reviews on child health interventions in PubMed. If sensitivity and/or precision are judged to be inadequate by child healthcare providers, an optimal search strategy will be developed.
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of existing search strategies in locating systematic reviews of healthcare interventions in children using the PubMed interface.
Methods: We evaluated three existing search strategies for locating systematic reviews irrespective of age range. The sensitivity of the search strategies was defined as the number of child health systematic reviews retrieved compared to a 'gold standard' set of child health systematic reviews. The 'gold standard' was established by searching for MEDLINE-indexed paediatric systematic reviews in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) in The Cochrane Library and by handsearching five years of seven MEDLINEindexed paediatric journals. The precision of the search strategies was defined as the number of relevant systematic reviews retrieved divided by the total number of records retrieved; the positive predictive value (precision) of the search strategies was evaluated by applying the strategies to five priority topics identified by the Cochrane Child Health Field.
Results: We identified 431 systematic reviews in children or neonates in DARE (The Cochrane Library 2004, Issue 2: n=4645), of which 302 were indexed in MEDLINE. In the handsearch of the first four volumes of the seven paediatric journals we identified 59 systematic reviews of which 26 were also in DARE. Thus, our 'gold standard' to date contains 335 ((302 + 59 - 26) systematic reviews. The handsearching was completed on 31 March 2006. Data on the sensitivity and precision of the three search strategies will be presented at the Colloquium.
Conclusions: We present sensitivity and precision of three search strategies in locating systematic reviews on child health interventions in PubMed. If sensitivity and/or precision are judged to be inadequate by child healthcare providers, an optimal search strategy will be developed.