title: Development of a Search Strategy for an Evidence Based Retrieval Service.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physicians are often encouraged to locate answers for their clinical queries via an evidence-based literature search approach. The methods used are often not clearly specified. Inappropriate search strategies, time constraint and contradictory information complicate evidence retrieval.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our study aimed to develop a search strategy to answer clinical queries among physicians in a primary care setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six clinical questions of different medical conditions seen in primary care were formulated. A series of experimental searches to answer each question was conducted on 3 commonly advocated medical databases. We compared search results from a PICO (patients, intervention, comparison, outcome) framework for questions using different combinations of PICO elements. We also compared outcomes from doing searches using text words, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), or a combination of both. All searches were documented using screenshots and saved search strategies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Answers to all 6 questions using the PICO framework were found. A higher number of systematic reviews were obtained using a 2 PICO element search compared to a 4 element search. A more optimal choice of search is a combination of both text words and MeSH terms. Despite searching using the Systematic Review filter, many non-systematic reviews or narrative reviews were found in PubMed. There was poor overlap between outcomes of searches using different databases. The duration of search and screening for the 6 questions ranged from 1 to 4 hours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This strategy has been shown to be feasible and can provide evidence to doctors' clinical questions. It has the potential to be incorporated into an interventional study to determine the impact of an online evidence retrieval system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Gah Juan
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Su May
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Liew
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chirk Jenn
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ranita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hisham Shunmugam
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Glasziou
mesh_terms: D003199:Computer Systems; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D046650:Medical Subject Headings; D009862:Online Systems; D005791:Patient Care / Q000379:methods*; D010820:Physicians; D039781:PubMed; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires