HDAS search guide

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Previous page Next page
Healthcare Databases
Advanced Search (HDAS)
A Training Guide
Ron Hudson April 2010
Outreach Training Librarian
Croydon Health Library and Resources Service
NHS Croydon
12-18 Lennard Road
Croydon CR9 2RS
Tel: 020 8274 6316
Mob: 07733 300 104
Email: ron.hudson@croydonpct.nhs.uk

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Advanced SearchHealthcare Databases - Advanced Searching (HDAS)
Created by Jane Tatlow as part of the NLH Search 2.0 Representatives Group.
Revised by Ron Hudson NHS Croydon Last updated 30.04.10

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Go to the NHS Evidence Homepage www.evidence.nhs.uk

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Select “NHS Athens Resources”
and then “Healthcare Databases”

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Logging on with
your NHS Athens
identity gives you
access to all the
healthcare
databases
purchased
nationally for use
by the NHS.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Systematic Advanced Search - intro
For a thorough review of evidence based literature you need to search at least
two relevant databases separately. This could be a healthcare database and a
database from the Evidence Section, or two healthcare databases. This
session looks at searching healthcare databases only.
To construct an effective search strategy you also need to plan your search.
Consider if the following would be applicable,
Search terms: Are there other synonyms, alternative spellings or
technical/layman terms for the subjects you require?
Which databases will be most appropriate?
Are you interested in a particular patient group, e.g. adults, diabetics,
outpatients?
What is the medical intervention e.g. specific drugs, therapies, surgery?
You may also want to consider the original language of articles
What is the publication type e.g. clinical trials, systematic reviews?
Or the period you wish to search, e.g. last five years?

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Healthcare databases- description
 Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED) 1985-
Covers occupational therapy, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, plus alternative and complementary
medicine: acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, yoga, hypnosis.
 British Nursing Index (BNI) 1985-
This UK focused database covers general nursing as well as the specific nursing areas covering
A&E, neonatal, breast cancer, theatres and orthopaedics.
 Cumulative Index of Nursing & Allied Health (CINAHL) 1981-
A US database covering all aspects of nursing and allied health. Subjects covered include
optometry, radiologic technology, speech and language pathology, nutrition. Covers journals,
theses and pamphlets.
 EMBASE 1980-
With particular emphasis on European sources, this database covers the whole field of medicine.
Drugs, pharmacology and substance abuse are particularly well covered.
 Health Business Elite
Contains searchable articles from 480 journals in healthcare administration and other non-clinical
aspects of health care institution management.
 HMIC Health Management Information Consortium 1979-
This compiles data from both the Department of Health Library and Information Services and
Kings Fund Information and Library Service.
 MEDLINE 1950-
This is a large US source of medical information. Other subjects include dentistry, veterinary
medicine, medical psychology, genetics, and advanced nursing practice.
 PsycINFO 1806-
Includes international coverage of literature on psychology and allied fields, including education.
An NHS Athens ID allows you to search the following databases:

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
For complex and systematic searches it is recommended that you
search the databases separately. Each database has it’s own
specific index and features.
Select a
single
database –
a brief
description
is provided.
Here we
have
chosen
EMBASE.
Finally select NEXT

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Most of the healthcare databases also index articles, assigning index terms or
headings from a controlled thesaurus to each article. We can use these
thesaurus terms to search for articles.
To find the term used by the
database thesaurus for your topic
and search for articles assigned
with those thesaurus terms, select
the Map to Thesaurus box. Then
SEARCH.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Thesaurus terms or headings are used to categorise each record within the
database. Each article record is assigned headings or terms from a controlled
thesaurus (sometimes called an index). Selecting the Map to Thesaurus button
will display suitable thesaurus terms for your search term.
Select the most appropriate
heading. If you are not sure
use the link to [scope] to
display more information.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Thesaurus - explode
Selecting the blue thesaurus
term will display the thesaurus
“tree” with details of more
specific or general terms in the
thesaurus.
Selecting exploded will search all the narrower terms beneath the selected
term in the thesaurus. In this example it will include articles specifically indexed
with the thesaurus terms Pregnancy Diabetes and Diabetic Angiopathy. If you
do not select exploded the search will only retrieve articles indexed with the
more general thesaurus term, and you may miss relevant articles.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Results are displayed in a Search history table that builds up as you
enter new terms or phrases. Your search statement is repeated in the
Search Term column.
The number of
articles found for
each search is
displayed as hits.
Clicking on the hit
number will display
citations for the
records found. We
need to focus our
search a bit more
before we display
any records.
Each new
search is
labelled with a
number. You
can use these
numbers and
search lines to
combine
different
searches.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Type one or more words, or a phrase, into the search box. It is helpful to
search different topics separately and combine them later.
Choose appropriate
search criteria from the
menu. Title and
Abstract is the default
setting. Multiple
selections may be made
by holding down the
CTRL key.
Finally select SEARCH.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
AND OR NOT
 Typing two or more words will retrieve results that
contain all those words in the criteria you selected.
 To enter phrases, type your words within double quotes.
Your results will only include results that contain this
exact phrase in the criteria searched. Some phrase
examples are:
“cognitive behaviour therapy”
“heart attack”
 You can use the * as a wildcard to search for words
with the same beginning. For example therap* will find
therapy, therapist and therapeutic; nurs* will find
nursing, nursed, nurse
 To search for an author use the format “Shirkey BL” or if
the initials are unknown, replace initial with the wildcard
* eg. “Shirkey *” or “Shirkey B*” . The quotes are
essential.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Combine similar topics with OR to retrieve items with either criteria.
Here we want to retrieve articles that have been indexed as being about
diabetes as well as articles with the term diabetes in the abstract/ title.
To combine related thesaurus and keyword searches use OR
Select the relevant search lines, choose the appropriate button, here OR, Then select
Combine Selected Searches

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
We can repeat this process for all our terms, for our search on the
effectiveness of yoga as exercise for diabetics. Line 1 is the thesaurus or
index term search and line 2 is the keyword search.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Having combined related thesaurus and keyword searches, we also need to
combine the different topics. Use AND where you want BOTH topics to be
present in articles retrieved. In this example we need to use AND between our
results for diabetes (thesaurus term or keyword) and yoga (thesaurus term or
keyword)

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
 Use the combine function AND to search for results that
include both or all terms. AND will reduce the number
of articles you retrieve. Usually used to combine
different topics, for example,
diabetes AND insulin
“art therapy” AND “mental health”
 Use the combine function OR to search for results that
include either term. OR will increase the number of
articles retrieved. Usually used with similar topics,
synonyms or alternative spellings. Some examples are
pediatric OR paediatric
stroke OR cva
yoga or “tai chi” or pilates
 NOT is also available but should be used with caution.
For example diabetes NOT adult would exclude clinical
trials involving both adults and children, not just those
involving adults.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Our combined search has retrieved 87 articles. We could view these citations
by selecting the number of hits. We can also use the Limits function available
for this database to reduce the number of results further.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Limits are displayed beneath the search box. Use the
arrows to open each limit and view options, or Expand all
limits.
To delete previously set limits, use Clear all limits.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Here we have used the drop down menus in the Date Limits to limit
retrieved articles to those dated 2005 to Current. It is possible to select
a single year of records by selecting only a From Publication Year.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Here we have expanded the Language Limits. Note that your
previously selected date limit is displayed in light blue.
If you want articles written only in English, select the English
Language box. If you wish to select more than one language
choose from the drop down Languages menu (including English)
and do not select the single English limit.
To select more than one option from a menu hold down the
control key on your keyboard when you select options.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Clinical Queries Limit
Clinical Queries Limit
The Clinical Queries Limit will restrict your results to clinically sound studies. They are only
available in EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. Nine categories are provided, the emphasis may
be:
Sensitive: Most articles are relevant but may also retrieve some less relevant ones.
Specific: Most articles are relevant but may omit a few.
Optimized: a combination that optimizes the trade-off between sensitivity and specificity.
These filters are based on the work of R Brian Haynes MD, PhD et al of the Health Information
Research Unit HIRU. For more detail see the original web page. http://hiru.mcmaster.ca/hedges/

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Once you have selected
your limits, enter the
search line you wish to
apply limits to in the
search box, here 7, and
then SEARCH

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Using the date and language limits has reduced the number of retrieved
articles. To display your results select the blue link to records in the hit
column.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Records are normally displayed
by publication date. If there are
less than 500 records, the sort
order can be changed by
selecting from the drop down
menu, then selecting SORT.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Clipboard: Enables the temporary saving of results from different result sets
or databases. The clipboard selections cannot be saved for further sessions. To
try clipboard: select results of interest and then “Copy to clipboard”. Clipboard
automatically recognises duplicate records and will not add another copy of the
same result. The number of results on your clipboard will be displayed. Select
“view your clipboard” to view and output results held in this temporary file.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
It is possible to view abstracts in search results using the Show
Abstracts option. When the box next to Show Abstracts is selected
the short citation will also include abstracts where available.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Some records will include links to the full text content of
an article. Selecting the blue supplier link will display the
article. You may be prompted to enter your Athens
username again – check for an Athens log in request if
the article does not appear directly.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
 There are over 1500 journals available online to NHS staff which are
purchased by NHS England. Local health library services have added
to this total. This includes many top titles such as JAMA and British
Medical Journal.
 Your NHS Athens username and password is the key to access these
journals and articles.
 Direct access to a searchable journal title index is available via My
Journals, http://www.library.nhs.uk/booksandjournals/journals or from
the link on the NLH homepage.
NOTE:
Full text links also include details about print copies held in local libraries.
Where no online or print Full Text link is displayed, your local health
library may be able to obtain a photocopy. Details of your local health
libraries will be available in the My Library pages of NLH website once
you are logged in.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
To select results for
saving or emailing,
click the small box
beside the short
citation.
To see more
details about a
record, select
the record title
(in blue). Details
provided will
depend on the
database but
might include an
abstract,
publication type
or thesaurus
index terms.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
You can
navigate
through the
result details
using the links
above.
Clicking on a relevant subject
heading will perform a search on
that subject heading and return
you to the search history.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
To return to the
results display
select Current
Search Results
from the
breadcrumb trail
in the header
section.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
At the bottom of each page of results there is a series of
options allowing you to select both the output and
display formats for your results.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
To save selected article details use the form at the bottom of every results
page. You can Export Results in PDF, MS Word or Text output format.
To display results use Export results with HTML output format.
To email results select PDF, MS Word or Text output format.
You can also export selected results into Reference Manager software,
using the RIS output format.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
To add further limits, do another search, or change
databases use the links in the breadcrumb trail,
shown above.
 Use Current Search Results to return to your
short citations of results
 Use Search and Limits to return to the search
history table
 Use Healthcare Databases Advanced Search
to change the database you are searching.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
It is possible to save searches from the Search History page. Saved
searches include all details of the original search including terms, search
criteria, databases and limits. Select the appropriate rows and then SAVE
SELECTED ROWS

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Give your saved search a relevant name and SAVE or SAVE &
CREATE ALERT

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
If you select the ALERT option you will be asked to fill in
this simple form including email address and frequency.
Complete all parts and then SAVE ALERT.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
When you return to searching
healthcare databases use the
HELLO area to manage your
saved searches and alerts.
You can also recover any
searches if experiencing a
technical issue.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Select My Saved Searches to view your saved searches.
When you rerun your search, you are offered RUN SEARCH ON
CURRENT DATABASE, or RUN SEARCH.
NOTE: Each database has a slightly different thesaurus, if you use a
different database you are advised to remap terms to thesaurus in your
new search. For this reason we usually recommend that you use RUN
SEARCH as this will run the search in the same database as the original
search.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
To do your search again in a different database, use the breadcrumb link
Healthcare Databases Advanced Search or Search using different
databases.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
From here you can
now select a new
database to search.
We have now
selected Medline

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Selecting a different database from the list will display the following page.
It is recommended that you use Continue and re-type or use drag and
drop to repeat the search in your new database, re-mapping to the new
database thesaurus where relevant.
If your previous search includes Thesaurus searches do not Re-execute
Search History as thesaurus terms may not exist in the new database.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
When searching in a new database, it is recommended that you select
Show All, so that all your search steps are visible, instead of only the last
10.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Here we have redone the same search in MEDLINE. Note that we have repeated
the same Limits for language and period.
It is now possible to combine our EMBASE search (with 58 results) and the
Medline Search (with 24 results) and remove duplicate records. Select the
appropriate search lines and use REMOVE DUPLICATES

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
This produces a combined set of results from both databases. You can see
that 16 records were duplicated and our unique set has only 66 results. You
can view all results, the duplicated results or the unique set by selecting the
appropriate hit number.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
It is also possible to do a quick search
across several databases at once. The full
functionality of each database is not
available in this type of search.
QUICK SEARCH
ACROSS DATABASES

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
To do a quick Advanced
Search across all the
databases select here,
otherwise to search across
two or more just select the
databases of interest.
Then click on NEXT.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Here we have repeated our diabetes search across all databases. Note that
only the date limit is available. The mapping box is also unavailable and
searches cannot be made of the database thesaurus. You are also
automatically informed when the total number of results exceeds 500.

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Critical appraisal tools
Once you have your optimal search you may select specific
references and display, email or save the results you require as
explained earlier.
You will still need to critically appraise the articles you have
found. There are several tools to help you do this. A link to the
following resources is provided at the bottom of the Search
Books Journals and Healthcare Databases page.
•CASP Critical Appraisal Toolkits from the Public Health
Resources Unit
•University of Oxford CEBM toolkit
•Canadian Centre for Health Evidence – User Guides to the
Medical Literature
•How to read a paper- Professor Trisha Greenhalgh

of 53
www.evidence.nhs.uk
Syntax for experts
Wildcards
* Unlimited truncation, can be used at the end of a word “stem”. For
example pregnan* will find pregnant, pregnancy; p*diatric will find
paediatric, pediatric
*n number (n) specifies the maximum characters after the word stem,
eg., therap*3 will find therapy and therapist but not therapeutic.
Operators
AND Two or more words in any order. Operator not required unless you
are using nested terms .
OR Any of two or more words in any order
NOT Word or expression preceding the operator but not the
one following it
“” Terms within the “” are next to each other in the same order
Eg., “cerebrovascular accident”
ADJ As above, words next to each other in same order e.g.,
cerebrovascular ADJ accident
ADJn Where n is a number greater than 1. Words within the specified
number of words (n) of each other, in any order. ie. The ADJ2
operator finds terms in any order with one word between them.
Field Codes
.ti Words in Title e.g. diabetes.ti
.ab Words in abstract
.af Words in all fields
.ti,ab Words in title and abstract
Syntax for Experts: Use the following shortcuts in your searches.
For more syntax see the Help Screens

HDAS search guide

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (20)

Destacado

Destacado (8)

Similar a HDAS search guide

Similar a HDAS search guide (20)

Último

Último (20)

HDAS search guide