How much searching is enough booth

More famil- an alternative to the assumptions behind the systematic re- iar mechanisms such as funnel plots are used to investigate view method. Finally, existing methods of evidence retrieval the likely bias resulting from omitting studies that may sys- already embody strategies to minimize the risk of missing tematically impact upon review findings e. For However, this willingness to handle uncertainties re- example, through a process of natural selection that we are lating to the population of studies is seldom acknowledged only just beginning to understand, studies with the greatest at earlier points of the process, such as at the study identi- potential impact are more likely to be published, more likely fication stage.

As a consequence HTA reports that engage to appear in high quality journals, more likely to be covered with systematic review methodologies embody the implicit in multiple databases, and more likely to be cited Studies that are more likely to be overlooked strategies and long lists of databases searched. Such studies either represent iso- returns 9. If this is not the case, then an HTA team demonstrate comprehensiveness and they can desist search- is increasing the resources consumed by the review without ing?

For example, MEDLINE consis- of pursuing one particular strategy in preference to others tently delivers an average of 80 percent of included studies and offsetting this against the value of information to be for systematic reviews 2;14; How much effort should subsequently gained from that strategy.

Readers may be able to suggest additional meth- fective in retrieving additional studies for inclusion. Instead, ods for exploration or even identify methods that they have additional resources would be more productively targeted at actually used in their HTA teams. Chilcott et al. A comparative shortage of em- a methodological review whereby they discontinued search- pirical investigation means that there remains an extensive ing of a database if the yield of relevant articles fell below evaluation agenda.

Kastner et al. Egger et al. It should, for example, be possible to quality. They concluded that rather than preventing biases build up a comparative picture of typical conversion rates comprehensive literature searches may, in fact, increase them for surgery, diagnostic, public health, and new drug types by including studies of lower quality.

Royle and Milne 20 of topics. Such data would help HTA teams to agree real- examined twenty technology assessment reports and found istic levels of searching for a particular topic and to plan INTL. The role of modelling in ment. Furthermore, it is a relatively easy task to document prioritising and planning clinical trials. Health Technol Assess. This 6. Identifying relevant studies would again allow us to build up an evidence base on yield for systematic reviews. How important are compre- from different databases for different topics and, indeed, on hensive literature searches and the assessment of trial quality sources of duplicate references.

For example, if a partic- in systematic reviews? Empirical study. Grant MJ, Booth A. A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 sources or costed as an extra for verification purposes review types and associated methodologies.

Health Info Libr J. Greenhalgh T, Peacock R. Effectiveness and efficiency agenda, it will be necessary to factor in not just the conse- of search methods in systematic reviews of complex ev- quences of missing a particular reference so often the preoc- idence: Audit of primary sources. Ioannidis J. Why most published research findings are false. Sensitivity analyses Estimating the Horizon of could explore the consequences of including only references articles to decide when to stop searching in systematic reviews: from particular database sources for a meta-analysis result.

An example using a systematic review of RCTs evaluating os- Yes, the results in terms of number of hits or relevant stud- teoporosis clinical decision support tools.

Answering such questions will help HTA teams to The capture-mark- identify the robustness of their review product against po- recapture technique can be used as a stopping rule when tential bias and thus to identify whether their procedures searching in systematic reviews. J Clin Epidemiol. Khan KS, Coomarasamy A. A hierarchy of effective teach- ing and learning to acquire competence in evidenced-based much-needed evolution from comprehensive toward optimal medicine.

BMC Med Educ. Coverage of the bibliographic databases in mental health research. Nord J Psychiatry. Qualitative research and Cochrane reviews. Booth sheffield. Version 5. The Cochrane Collaboration, Systematic reviews United Kingdom of health effects of social interventions: 1. Finding the evi- dence: How far should you go? J Epidemiol Community Health. Pirolli P, Card S.

Information foraging in information ac- cess environments. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors The author reports having no potential conflicts of interest.

Association for Computing Machinery, Share This Paper. Background Citations. Methods Citations. Topics from this paper. Technology Assessment, Biomedical Weakness. Evaluation procedure Rule guideline. Citation Type. Has PDF. Publication Type. More Filters. Systematic review identifies six metrics and one method for assessing literature search effectiveness but no consensus on appropriate use. View 3 excerpts, cites background. View 2 excerpts, cites background. Can we prioritise which databases to search?

A case study using a systematic review of frozen shoulder management. View 1 excerpt, cites background. Meeting the review family: exploring review types and associated information retrieval requirements. Is there an optimum number needed to retrieve to justify inclusion of a database in a systematic review search? Supplementary search methods were more effective and offered better value than bibliographic database searching: A case study from public health and environmental enhancement.

Optimal literature search for systematic reviews in surgery. Where and how to search for information on the effectiveness of public health interventions--a case study for prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Health technology assessment in social care: A case study of randomized controlled trial retrieval. View 1 excerpt, references background.