Article type
Year
Abstract
Background:The number of Cochrane qualitative evidence syntheses (QES) is increasing. However, little is known about the best databases to find qualitative articles in. Building on a paper published recently (Frandsen 2019) exploring where included studies in qualitative evidence syntheses from Cochrane and Joanna Briggs were found we decided to look at the included studies from published Cochrane QES and protocols to identify if the included studies were found in three popular databases.
Objectives:To identify how many primary studies included in Cochrane QES are found in three frequently searched databases; Cinahl, MEDLINE and Embase.
Methods:We searched the Cochrane Library for published qualitative evidence syntheses and contacted authors of ongoing QES to ask if they could share any finalized list of included studies as of October 2019. We then searched Cinahl, MEDLINE and Embase for all included studies by title. We did not remove duplicates if a single primary study was included in multiple reviews.
Results:In total we included 8 published Cochrane QES (376 included studies) and 3 protocols (228 included studies). On average the QES searched in 5 databases (3-9 databases). All reviews searched in MEDLINE, 10 in CINAHL and 7 in EMBASE. In total we included 604 studies in our search. 78% of studies were found in MEDLINE, 75% in EMBASE and 64% in CINAHL. 50% of studies were found in all three databases and 8% were not found in the three databases we searched. 15% were only available in one database and 27% in two.
Conclusions:This exercise allowed us to find out if the primary qualitative studies included in Cochrane QES are indexed in three frequently searched databases. However, we do not know how findable these studies are. We do not know how important the 8% of studies we could not find were to the synthesis and findings of the qualitative reviews. Future research could investigate where these studies are found and how important they are to the synthesis and findings of the QES. Going forward we would like to build on the findings of Frandsen 2019 identify how many studies are available in Scopus.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement:This abstract discusses a methodology that aims to include rich data in qualitative reviews which can provide a more detailed presentation of health consumers’ thoughts, opinions and experiences allowing authors to better interpret the meaning and context of findings presented in the primary studies.
Objectives:To identify how many primary studies included in Cochrane QES are found in three frequently searched databases; Cinahl, MEDLINE and Embase.
Methods:We searched the Cochrane Library for published qualitative evidence syntheses and contacted authors of ongoing QES to ask if they could share any finalized list of included studies as of October 2019. We then searched Cinahl, MEDLINE and Embase for all included studies by title. We did not remove duplicates if a single primary study was included in multiple reviews.
Results:In total we included 8 published Cochrane QES (376 included studies) and 3 protocols (228 included studies). On average the QES searched in 5 databases (3-9 databases). All reviews searched in MEDLINE, 10 in CINAHL and 7 in EMBASE. In total we included 604 studies in our search. 78% of studies were found in MEDLINE, 75% in EMBASE and 64% in CINAHL. 50% of studies were found in all three databases and 8% were not found in the three databases we searched. 15% were only available in one database and 27% in two.
Conclusions:This exercise allowed us to find out if the primary qualitative studies included in Cochrane QES are indexed in three frequently searched databases. However, we do not know how findable these studies are. We do not know how important the 8% of studies we could not find were to the synthesis and findings of the qualitative reviews. Future research could investigate where these studies are found and how important they are to the synthesis and findings of the QES. Going forward we would like to build on the findings of Frandsen 2019 identify how many studies are available in Scopus.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement:This abstract discusses a methodology that aims to include rich data in qualitative reviews which can provide a more detailed presentation of health consumers’ thoughts, opinions and experiences allowing authors to better interpret the meaning and context of findings presented in the primary studies.