Search filters include both terms to retrieve quality results for inquiry types, as well as search lines with study types to help sort results for critical appraisal. For some clinical questions it may be appropriate to combine portions of more than one filter.
**Indicates See Search Notes
1. exp "Sensitivity and Specificity"/
2. exp Diagnostic Errors/
3. Likelihood Functions/
4. Reproducibility of Results/
5. Area Under Curve/
6. exp Probability/ **
7. (accurac$ or false positive$ or false negative$ or false rate$ or likelihood or probabilit$).tw.
8. (receiver operat$ or roc or sensitiv$ or specificity).tw.
9. ((observer adj variation$) or (predictive adj3 value$)).tw.
10. Diagnosis,Differential/
11. or/1-10
12. (etiolog$ or aetiolog$).ti. **
13. Incidence/ or Prevalence/ or (incidence or prevalence).tw.
14. MeSH term/et
15. et.fs.
16. or/12-15
17. Cross-Sectional Studies/ or Epidemiologic Studies/ or Case-Control Studies/ or Retrospective Studies/ or Cohort Studies/ or Longitudinal Studies/ or Follow-up Studies/ or Prospective Studies/ or Comparative Study.pt.
18. Meta Analysis.pt. or (meta analy$ or metaanaly$).tw. or systematic review$.tw. or (published studies or medline or embase or data synthesis or data extraction).ab. or cochrane.jw. **
19. (Guideline or Practice Guideline or Consensus Development Conference or Consensus Development Conference, NIH).pt. or (guideline$ or consensus).tw,hw. or recommend$.ti. **
** We suggest using MeSH terms and textwords in combination with this filter or MeSH term/di if retrieval is very large. In most cases, "du" as a subheading won't be needed but should be considered for diagnostic testing.
** For topics on screening consider adding screening.tw,hw., as well as searching the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/prevnew.htm
** Statement 6: exp Probability includes:
Bayes Theorem
Likelihood Functions
Markov Chains
Odds Ratio
Proportional Hazards Models
Risk
-Logistic Models
-Risk Assessment
--Risk Adjustment
-Risk Factors
Uncertainty
** Statement 12: If retrieval seems too small, consider also searching in the abstracts for these textwords.
** The goal of statements 12-16 is to elicit common and serious etiologies which may impact upon diagnostic approach or "work-up" of a condition or disease. See the Search Pearls for suggestions on additional MeSH terms and textwords.
** Statement 17: If the question has an etiologic component, consider these study sets to further filter for evidence.
** Statement 18: Systematic review terms applied to the diagnostic search strategy will identify studies that have used a systematic approach to searching, assessing and summarizing the results. In addition to using this statement, consider using the Subject Subset limit, “Systematic Reviews”. This option is located within the Additional Limits option. This limit may also be entered directly in the search box as:
Limit [set #] to systematic reviews
** Statement 19: (If appropriate, consider including the MeSH terms: Guidelines as Topic; Practice Guidelines as Topic)
** Depending on the nature of the question consider terms such as "mass screening".mh. or "screen$".tw.
** The following MeSH terms and textwords can sometimes prove useful in focusing searches that deal with diagnostic questions involving some sort of decision-making process:
Algorithms (MeSH)
Decision Support Techniques(MeSH)
Decision Making(MeSH)
Judgment(MeSH)
prediction rule$.tw.
decision$.tw. or decide$.tw.
judg$.tw.
If appropriate, consider incorporating the concept of "outcome$" into your strategy in order to elicit the outcomes of making a particular diagnosis.
When working on a diagnosis question, consider discussing with your author whether or not "screening" concepts should be included in the search.
Questions such as, "What are the causes of..." implies "How do I approach the diagnosis of..." or "What is the best diagnostic approach to..."
In addition to the terms indicated in Statements 12-15, and depending upon the nature of the question itself, or the condition/disease, you may want to consider incorporating some of the following MeSH terms related to etiology and epidemiology:
Age Distribution
Age Factors
Disease Suceptibility
-Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Family Characteristics
Health Status
-Geriatric Assessment
Sex Distribution
Sex Factors
The following outline provides the author with a general approach to developing an answer to an FPIN diagnostic question:
Evidence Based Answer
Evidence Summary
-Prevalence and Incidence
-Common Etiologies
-Serious Etiologies
-Complete list of Etiologies
-Impact
Recommendations from Others
References
Clinical Commentary
Ovid MEDLINE filters were developed by librarians at the University of Missouri - Columbia. For more information about the FPIN search filters, please contact the FPIN Librarian Coordinator.