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Search Strategies for EMBASE in Ovid Syntax



EMBASE

EMBASE strategies were derived based on a 55-journal subset. For each purpose category (diagnosis, prognosis, causation [etiology]), the following data are shown: the single term with the highest sensitivity while keeping specificity at ³ 50%; the single term with the highest specificity while keeping the sensitivity ³ 50%; the single term with the least (minimal) absolute difference between sensitivity and specificity; and then the same data for multiple terms (the single term strategy may be shown again if it performs at least as well as multiple terms). In the second column of the table the search strategies are shown in Ovid syntax. In the third column of the table: sens = sensitivity; spec = specificity; prec = precision; acc = accuracy. References for the methods and individual categories appear at the end of the document.

To find out more about the Hedges Project click here.

Top(prognosis, causation (etiology), Clinical Prediction Guides)

Diagnosis - EMBASE
Strategy type

Ovid Strategy
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%)
1 term
high sensitivity		 di.fs.
92 / 76 / 1 / 77
1 term
high specificity		 specificity.tw.
63 / 98 / 11 / 98
1 term
min difference		 diagnos:.mp.
90 / 85 / 2/ 85
2 or more terms
high sensitivity

di.fs.
OR predict:.tw.
OR specificity.tw.

100 / 70 / 1 / 71

2 or more terms
high specificity (one term if outperforms multiple term strategies)

specificity.tw.
63 / 98 / 11 / 98
2 or more terms
min difference

sensitiv:.tw.
OR diagnostic accuracy.sh.
OR diagnostic.tw.

90 / 92 / 3 / 92

Top (diagnosis, causation (etiology), Clinical Prediction Guides)

Prognosis - EMBASE
Strategy type

Ovid Strategy
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%)
1 term
high sensitivity		 exp general aspects of disease
87 / 56 / 1 / 56
1 term
high specificity		 exp disease course
60 / 86 / 12/ 86
1 term
min difference		 exp physical disease by body function
51 / 59 / 1/ 59
2 or more terms
high sensitivity

exp disease course
OR risk:.mp.
OR diagnos:.mp.
OR follow-up.mp.
OR ep.fs.
OR outcome.tw.

99 / 51 / 1 / 51
2 or more terms
high specificity

prognos:.tw.
OR survival.tw.

51 / 93 / 4 / 93
2 or more terms
min difference

follow-up.mp.
OR prognos:.tw.
OR ep.fs.

80 / 80 / 2 / 80

Top (diagnosis, prognosis, Clinical Prediction Guides)

Causation (Etiology) - EMBASE
Strategy type

Ovid Strategy
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%)
1 term
high sensitivity		 exp general aspects of disease
73 / 56 / 1 / 56
1 term
high specificity		 exp risk
51 / 88 / 3 / 87
1 term
min difference		 control:.mp.
61 / 66 / 1/ 66
2 or more terms
high sensitivity

risk:.mp.
OR exp methodology
OR exp epidemiology

92 / 61 / 2 / 61
2 or more terms
high specificity

cohort.tw.
OR relative risk:.tw.

53 / 95 / 7 / 9
2 or more terms
min difference

risk.tw.
OR mortalit:.tw.
OR cohort.tw.

82 / 81 / 3 / 81

Top (diagnosis, prognosis, causation (etiology))

Clinical Prediction Guides - EMBASE
Strategy type

Ovid Strategy
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%)
1 term
high sensitivity

predict:.tw.

78 / 92 / 2 / 92
1 term
high specificity		 validat:.tw.
61 / 99 / 11 / 99
1 term
min difference		 predict:.tw.
78 / 92 / 2 / 92
2 or more terms
high sensitivity

predict:.tw.
OR exp methodology
OR validat:.tw.

97 / 74 / 1 / 74
2 or more terms
high specificity

validation.tw.
OR prediction.tw.

61 / 99 / 11 / 99
2 or more terms
min difference

validat:.mp.
OR index.tw.
OR model.tw.

91 / 90 / 2 / 90

Top

References

Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB; Hedges Team. EMBASE search strategies for identifying methodologically sound diagnostic studies for use by clinicians and researchers. BMC Med. 2005 Mar 29;3(1):7. Free full text link: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1741-7015-3-7.pdf

Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB, for the Hedges Team. Optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound prognostic studies in EMBASE: an analytic survey. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2005 Mar 31; [Epub ahead of print]

Haynes RB, Kastner M, Wilczynski NL; Hedges Team. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound and relevant causation studies in EMBASE. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2005 Mar 22;5(1):8 [Epub ahead of print] Free full text link: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6947-5-8.pdf

Holland JL, Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB; Hedges Team. Optimal search strategies for identifying sound clinical prediction studies in EMBASE. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2005 Apr 29;5(1):11.