Dataset Information

Comparative effectiveness research designs: an analysis of terms and coverage in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Emtree.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We analyzed the extent to which comparative effectiveness research (CER) organizations share terms for designs, analyzed coverage of CER designs in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Emtree, and explored whether scientists use CER design terms.

Methods

We developed local terminologies (LTs) and a CER design terminology by extracting terms in documents from five organizations. We defined coverage as the distribution over match type in MeSH and Emtree. We created a crosswalk by recording terms to which design terms mapped in both controlled vocabularies. We analyzed the hits for queries restricted to titles and abstracts to explore scientists' language.

Results

Pairwise LT overlap ranged from 22.64% (12/53) to 75.61% (31/41). The CER design terminology (n?=?78 terms) consisted of terms for primary study designs and a few terms useful for evaluating evidence, such as opinion paper and systematic review. Patterns of coverage were similar in MeSH and Emtree (gamma?=?0.581, P?=?0.002).

Conclusions

Stakeholder terminologies vary, and terms are inconsistently covered in MeSH and Emtree. The CER design terminology and crosswalk may be useful for expert searchers. For partially mapped terms, queries could consist of free text for modifiers such as nonrandomized or interrupted added to broad or related controlled terms.

SUBMITTER: Bekhuis T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3634392 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Comparative effectiveness research designs: an analysis of terms and coverage in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Emtree.

Bekhuis Tanja T Demner-Fushman Dina D Crowley Rebecca S RS

Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA 20130401 2

<h4>Objectives</h4>We analyzed the extent to which comparative effectiveness research (CER) organizations share terms for designs, analyzed coverage of CER designs in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Emtree, and explored whether scientists use CER design terms.<h4>Methods</h4>We developed local terminologies (LTs) and a CER design terminology by extracting terms in documents from five organizations. We defined coverage as the distribution over match type in MeSH and Emtree. We created a cross ...[more]

PMID: 23646024

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundMedical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus contribute towards efficient searching of biomedical information. However, insufficient coverage of specific fields and inaccuracies in the indexing of articles can lead to bias during literature retrieval.ObjectivesThis meta-research study aimed to assess the use of 'Pharmaceutical Services' MeSH terms in studies evaluating the effect of pharmacists' interventions.MethodsAn updated systematic search (Jan-2022) to gather meta-analyses comparing pharmacists' interventions vs. other forms of care was performed. All MeSH terms allocated to the MEDLINE record of each primary study included in the selected meta-analyses were systematically extracted. Terms from the 'Pharmaceutical Services' branch, including its descendants, as well as other 26 pharmacy-specific MeSH terms were identified. The assignment of these terms as a 'Major MeSH' was also evaluated. Descriptive statistics and social network analyses to evaluate the co-occurrence of the MeSH terms in the articles were conducted. Sensitivity analyses including only meta-analyses with declared objectives mentioning the words 'pharmacist' or 'pharmacy' were performed (SPSS v.24.0).ResultsOverall, 138 meta-analyses including 2012 primary articles were evaluated. A median of 15 [IQR 12-18] MeSH terms were assigned per article with a slight positive time-trend (Spearman rho = 0.193; p < 0.001). Only 36.6% (n = 736/2012) and 58.1% (n = 338/1099) of studies were indexed with one MeSH term from the 'Pharmaceutical Services' branch in the overall and sensitivity analyses, respectively. In <20% of cases, these terms were a 'Major MeSH'. The pharmacy-specific term 'Pharmacists' was the most frequently used, yet in only 27.8% and 47.7% of articles in the original and sensitivity analyses, respectively. Social networks showed a weak association between pharmacy-specific and 'Pharmaceutical services' branch MeSH terms.ConclusionsThe availability of a 'Pharmaceutical services' branch hierarchic tree and further pharmacy-specific MeSH terms incorporated to the MeSH thesaurus in the past years is not related with accurate indexing of articles.

Dataset Information

Comparative effectiveness research designs: an analysis of terms and coverage in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Emtree.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Comparative effectiveness research designs: an analysis of terms and coverage in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Emtree.

Similar Datasets

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