Literature Search and Management
Siyuan Fan 2012-8-2
My students are dismayed when I say to them “Half of what you are taught as medical
students will in 10 years have been shown to be wrong. And the trouble is, none of your
teachers knows which half.”
-- Dr Sydney Burwell, Dean of Harvard Medical School
Main Contents
1. Define the Question
2. Where to Search: Database
3. How to Search: Strategy
4. How to Manage the Literature
5. How to Find the Full Text
6. How to Keep Up to Date
Define the Question
Why?
"Ask a poor question and you will get a poor review. A clear question also helps the reader rapidly assess whether the review is relevant to his or her own…practice". (Counsell,
1997)
narrow the search result
How: PICO Strategy
A clinical question should incorporate at least four
elements:
P
atient
Age, sex, ethnicity, etc.
Condition, diseases
I
ntervention
Education, medication, surgery, etc.
C
omparison Intervention
Placebo, etc.
O
utcome
Expected and actual effects on patient
PICO Strategy--example 1Oral anticoagulants in the secondary prevention of stroke in atrial fibrillation patients
PICO Strategy--example 1
Patient
atrial fibrillation
stroke
Intervention
oral anticoagulants
Comparison
placebo or warfarin
Outcome
secondary prevention
Where to Search: Database
Important Databases
Generalized databases
Medline -- via PubMed
Embase
Cochrane Library
Wanfang
Nursing databases
AMED, CINAHL
Medline -- via PubMed
How to Search: Strategy
Strategies
1. Choose key words of PICO
2. P & I first
In our example: oral anticoagulant atrial fibrillation
How to Manage the Literature
EndNote
How to Find the Full Text
How to Keep Up to Date
Literature Search and Management
Siyuan Fan 2012-8-2
My students are dismayed when I say to them “Half of what you are taught as medical
students will in 10 years have been shown to be wrong. And the trouble is, none of your
teachers knows which half.”
-- Dr Sydney Burwell, Dean of Harvard Medical School
Main Contents
1. Define the Question
2. Where to Search: Database
3. How to Search: Strategy
4. How to Manage the Literature
5. How to Find the Full Text
6. How to Keep Up to Date
Define the Question
Why?
"Ask a poor question and you will get a poor review. A clear question also helps the reader rapidly assess whether the review is relevant to his or her own…practice". (Counsell,
1997)
narrow the search result
How: PICO Strategy
A clinical question should incorporate at least four
elements:
P
atient
Age, sex, ethnicity, etc.
Condition, diseases
I
ntervention
Education, medication, surgery, etc.
C
omparison Intervention
Placebo, etc.
O
utcome
Expected and actual effects on patient
PICO Strategy--example 1Oral anticoagulants in the secondary prevention of stroke in atrial fibrillation patients
PICO Strategy--example 1
Patient
atrial fibrillation
stroke
Intervention
oral anticoagulants
Comparison
placebo or warfarin
Outcome
secondary prevention
Where to Search: Database
Important Databases
Generalized databases
Medline -- via PubMed
Embase
Cochrane Library
Wanfang
Nursing databases
AMED, CINAHL
Medline -- via PubMed
How to Search: Strategy
Strategies
1. Choose key words of PICO
2. P & I first
In our example: oral anticoagulant atrial fibrillation
How to Manage the Literature
EndNote
How to Find the Full Text
How to Keep Up to Date