Surveys of the performance of search filters

Studies which have assessed the performance of a range of filters are provided at the bottom of this page

General Bradley SM. Examination of the Clinical Queries and Systematic Review “hedges” in EMBASE and MEDLINE. Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association 2010;31(2):27-37.

Jenkins M. Evaluation of methodological search filters--a review. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2004;21(3):148-63.

Jenkins M, Johnson F. Awareness, use and opinions of methodological search filters used for the retrieval of evidence-based medical literature-a questionnaire survey. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2004;21(1):33-43.

Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB, Hedges Team. Robustness of empirical search strategies for clinical content in MEDLINE. Proceedings / AMIA Annual Symposium 2002;904-8.

Wilczynski NL, Walker CJ, McKibbon KA, Haynes RB. Assessment of methodologic search filters in MEDLINE. Proceedings / the Annual Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care 1993;601-5.
Economic studies Glanville J, Kaunelis D, Mensinkai S. How well do search filters perform in identifying economic evaluations in MEDLINE and EMBASE. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 2009;25(4):522-529.
Diagnostic studies

Kastner M, Wilczynski NL, McKibbon AK, Garg AX, Haynes RB. Diagnostic test systematic reviews: bibliographic search filters ("Clinical Queries") for diagnostic accuracy studies perform well. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 2009 ;62(9):974-81.

Whiting P, Westwood M, Burke M, Sterne J, Harbord R, Glanville J. Can diagnostic filters offer similar sensitivity and a reduced number needed to read compared to searches based on index test and target condition? [abstract]. Presented at Methods for Evaluating Medical Tests. First International Symposium; 2008 July 24-25; University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK and also at the 16th Cochrane Colloquium: Evidence in the era of globalisation; 2008 Oct 3-7; Freiburg, Germany [abstract]. Zeitschrift fur Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualitat im Gesundheitswesen 2008;102(Suppl VI):10.

Ritchie G, Glanville J, Lefebvre C. Do published search filters to identify diagnostic test accuracy studies perform adequately? Health Information and Libraries Journal 2007;24(3):188-92.

Also presented as Glanville J, Ritchie G, Lefebvre C. How well do published search filters perform in finding diagnostic test accuracy studies? [abstract]. Methods for Evaluating Medical Tests. First International Symposium; 2008 July 24-25; University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK:18.

Leeflang M, McDonald S, Scholten RJPM, Reitsma H, Rutjes AWS. Search strategies to identify diagnostic accuracy studies in MEDLINE and EMBASE.(Protocol) Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 2. Art. No.: MR000022. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.MR000022.pub2.

Alldred S, Hampson L, Neilson J, Alfirevic Z, Deeks J. Comparison of two different search strategies in identifying literature for a diagnostic test accuracy review of Down's Syndrome screening [abstract].14th Cochrane Colloquium; 2006 October 23-26; Dublin, Ireland.

Mitchell R, Rinaldi F, Craig J. Performance of published search strategies for studies of diagnostic test accuracy (SDTAs) in MEDLINE and EMBASE [abstract]. XIII Cochrane Colloquium; 2005 Oct 22-26; Melbourne, Australia:33.

Doust JA, Pietrzak E, Sanders S, Glasziou PP. Identifying studies for systematic reviews of diagnostic tests was difficult due to the poor sensitivity and precision of methodologic filters and the lack of information in the abstract. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 2005;58(5):444-9.

Leeflang MM, Scholten RJ, Rutjes AW, Reitsma JB, Bossuyt PM. Use of methodological search filters to identify diagnostic accuracy studies can lead to the omission of relevant studies. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 2006;59(3):234-40.
Qualitative research Gorecki CA, Brown JM, Briggs M, Nixon J. Evaluation of five search strategies in retrieving qualitative patient-reported electronic data on the impact of pressure ulcers on quality of life. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2010;66(3):645-52.

Flemming K, Briggs M. Electronic searching to locate qualitative research: evaluation of three strategies. Journal of Advanced Nursing 2007;57(1):95-100.

Grant MJ. How does your searching grow? A survey of search preferences and the use of optimal search strategies in the identification of qualitative research. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2004;21(1):21-32.

Shaw RL, Booth A, Sutton AJ, Miller T, Smith JA, Young B, Jones DR, Dixon-Woods M. Finding qualitative research: an evaluation of search strategies. BMC Medical Research Methodology 2004;4:5.
RCTs

McKibbon KA, Wilczynski N L, Haynes R B. Retrieving randomized controlled trials from Medline: a comparison of 38 published search filters.Health Information and Libraries Journal 2009; 26(3):187-202.

Corrao S, Colomba D, Arnone S, Argano C, Di Chiara T, Scaglione R, Licata G. Improving efficacy of PubMed Clinical Queries for retrieving scientifically strong studies on treatment. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 2006;13(5):485-7. (Correspondence: Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB. Response to Corrao et al.: Improving efficacy of PubMed clinical queries for retrieving scientifically strong studies on treatment. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 2007;14(2):247-8.)

McDonald S, Crumley E, Eisinga A, Villanueva E. Search strategies to identify reports of randomized trials in MEDLINE [Protocol]. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007;2:MR000018.

Anthony D, Hill S, Johnson K, Stokes B. A better gold pan: capturing RCTs with more precision. 13th Cochrane Colloquium; 2005 October 22-26; Melbourne, Australia.

Bardia A, Wahner-Roedler DL, Erwin PL, Sood A. Search strategies for retrieving complementary and alternative medicine clinical trials in oncology. Integrative Cancer Therapies 2006;5(3):202-5.

Sampson M, Zhang L, Ajiferuke I, Sampson M.Optimizing search strategies to identify randomized controlled trials in MEDLINE.12th Cochrane Colloquium; 2004 October 2-6; Ottawa, Canada.

Systematic reviews Wong SS, Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB. Comparison of top-performing search strategies for detecting clinically sound treatment studies and systematic reviews in MEDLINE and EMBASE. Journal of the Medical Library Association 2006;94(4):451-5.