Applied Nursing Research
Volume 21, Issue 2 , Pages 98-103, May 2008

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature search strategies for identifying methodologically sound causation and prognosis studies☆☆☆★

  • Cindy Walker-Dilks, MLS

      Affiliations

    • Health Information Research Unit, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5
    • ,
  • Nancy L. Wilczynski, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Health Information Research Unit, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 905 525 9140x22780; fax: +1 905 546 0401.
    • ,
  • R. Brian Haynes, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Health Information Research Unit, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5
    • Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5
    • ,
  • for the Hedges Team

Received 13 February 2006; accepted 14 April 2006.

Abstract 

We developed search strategies for detecting sound articles on causation and prognosis in Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) in the year 2000. An analytic survey was conducted, comparing hand searches of 75 journals with retrievals from CINAHL for 5,020 search terms and 11,784 combinations for causation and 9,946 combinations for prognosis. For detecting sound causation studies, a three-term strategy maximized sensitivity at 97.0% with a specificity of 52.3%. For detecting sound prognosis studies, a three-term strategy maximized sensitivity at 92.2% with a specificity of 50.0%. These search filters will enhance the searching efforts of clinicians and researchers.

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☆ This study was funded by the National Library of Medicine, USA.

☆☆ All authors had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.

★ N.L.W. and R.B.H. prepared grant submissions in relation to this project. All authors drafted, commented on, and approved the final manuscript. All authors also supplied intellectual content to the collection and analysis of the data. N.L.W. and C.W.D. participated in the data collection, and all authors were involved in data analysis.

PII: S0897-1897(06)00055-3

doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2006.04.004

Applied Nursing Research
Volume 21, Issue 2 , Pages 98-103, May 2008

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