Searching for the right evidence

ABSTRACT

@#Literature search is a systematic and well-organized search from published data to identify good quality references on a specific topic. The search can be a simple involving just a couple of sources and done within an hour or so. It can also be comprehensive and thorough where it involves multiple sources. However, in EBFP main purpose of a literature search is to obtain only a few available but relevant and high-quality evidence that can help the family practitioner make a clinical decision. The first step in making evidence-based decision is to convert the clinical problem for decision-making into a clinical question. It should be phrased in a simple sentence that is relevant and specific to the clinical problem, interesting enough to warrant searching for the answer and will likely obtain the article to answer the question. Based on the formulated clinical question discussed previously, identifying the key terms to be used for the search is the next step. The key terms are usually based on the PICO or its variants, POEM, SPICE or ECLIPSE elements in the clinical question. Since it will only be a simple search in EBFP, it is recommended to look in PubMed. PubMed is the online version of Index Medicus produced by the US National Library of Medicine (NLM). If the article is not available in PubMed, Google Scholar is another free web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publication formats and disciplines. Other advice for an efficient literature search is also discussed.