Workshop given at the McGill University Health Centre on February 22, 2011.

1. PubMed Essentials
Feb 22, 2011
ROBIN FEATHERSTONE,
SLIDES: www.slideshare.net/featherr

2. Levels of Evidence Pyramid
Systematic Reviews of Less Time
Randomized Controlled Trials Less Work
Less Evidence
Critically Appraised Topics
FILTERED
Randomized Controlled Trials
Cohort Studies & Case
Reports
UNFILTERED More Time
Case Controlled More Work
Studies More Evidence

3. Needs Assessment
• How often do you use PubMed?
• Why do you use it?
• What are you looking for?
• What (if any) problems have you encountered?

4. Objectives
After this class, you’ll be able to do the following
in PubMed:
1. Execute a simple search
2. Locate full text
3. Use subject headings
4. Use Single Citation Matcher
5. Apply limits
6. Save searches

5. Simple Searches

6. What are you looking for?
Well… I’m working on this
research team and we’re
investigating the use of
magnesium sulfate as a
possible mechanism for
improving neurological
outcomes after acute
Identify your traumatic brain injury in
key concepts: young adults. We’d like to
know what studies have
been conducted.

7. Find the key concepts…
1. What are risk factors for myocardial infarction as a
postoperative complication after infrarenal
infrarenal
abdominal aortic aneurysm repair?
repair
2. Are childhood cancer survivors more likely to have
gastrointestinal complications later in life?
3. What impact does population density have on
population density
incidence of Type II Diabetes
Diabetes?

8. Combining search terms
• Use OR to find MORE
results on the same
concept
ex. heart attack OR myocardial infarction
• Use AND to find LESS
results using two or
more concepts
ex. heart attack AND diet therapy

9. AND or OR?
A. myocardial infarction B. infrarenal abdominal
aortic aneurysm repair

10. AND or OR?
A. myocardial infarction B. infrarenal abdominal
aortic aneurysm repair
AND

11. Exercise: Search PubMed using these
terms with either AND or OR
1. myocardial infarction ? heart attack
2. diet therapy ? caloric restriction
3. childhood cancer ? gastrointestinal
complications
4. population density ? Type II Diabetes

12. Locating Full Text

13. Where to go from here?

14. 3 Ways to Find Full Text
1. Select the publisher link in PubMed
2. Search the journal name in the McGill
Library catalogue

15. 3 Ways to Find Full Text, cont…
3. Request it from us!
http://muhclibraries.mcgill.ca/

16. Exercise
• Conduct a quick search in PubMed on
complications following laparoscopic robotic
hysterectomy
• Locate two full text articles

17. Using Subject Headings

18. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
• MeSH Terms are added to references to
describe the subject of these articles
• Search with MeSH Terms to increase the
relevancy of your results

19. Search Using MeSH
• Identify key concepts
• Search MeSH database to find MeSH Terms
• Send terms to the Search Box with AND or OR
• Search PubMed

20. Demo
Using MeSH, find articles about cardiac
catheterization methods for patients awaiting a
heart transplant

21. Exercise & 10 min Break
Using MeSH, find articles on the following:
1. NSAIDS for rheumatoid arthritis during
pregnancy
2. Metformin for breast cancer prevention
Bonus – immunosuppression for HIV infected
patients following kidney transplantation

22. Objectives
After this class, you’ll be able to do the following
in PubMed:
1. Execute a simple search
2. Locate full text
3. Use subject headings
4. Use Single Citation Matcher
5. Apply Limits
6. Save searches

23. Scenario
You’re looking for:
• A particular article
• Articles written by a specific author
• Articles published in a particular journal

24. Demo
• Find an articles published in 2011 in the
journal Diagnostic Cytopathology about
fibroadenoma of the breast

25. Exercise
• Using Single Citation Matcher find:
1. Articles written by Daniel M. Bernad
2. Articles published in Canadian Journal of
Surgery in 2010
3. An article about hospital construction in the
journal Modern Healthcare

26. Applying Limits

27. Limits
• Filter your search results using practical screens
Examples:
Date range Articles published in the last five years
Type of article Only review articles
Age group All infants
Species Only articles about humans

28. Demo
• You need to find a case report, published in
French or English over the last five years of
pregnancy in lupus nephritis.

29. Exercise
Using Limits, find:
1. Review articles on electrocardiography for
left ventricular hypertrophy published in the
past two years
2. Clinical trials on perioperative anxiety in
children
3. An English language practice guideline for
treating postoperative pain
TIP: REMOVE your Limits after each search

30. Save searches

31. Create a My NCBI Account
A free account with My NCBI will allow you to:
1. Save your searches
2. Create reference lists
3. Set-up email updates of new search results

32. Demo
• Save and set up a monthly email alert to the
search for lupus nephritis case studies in
pregnancy

33. Exercise
• Register for a My NCBI account (must verify
via email)
• Run a search on a topic of interest to you
• Save your search and set up an email alert
(optional)

34. Recap – Fill in the Blanks
• PubMed is a ___ information resource
• Combine synonymous search terms with ___
• Search ___ when the publisher link doesn’t find
the full text
• Increase the relevancy of searches with ___
• Find an article by a particular author with ___
• Use ___ to screen results by publication type
• To set up email alerts, ____ your search