A group of researchers from Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands recently published a paper where they describe the development and validation of bibliographic database search filters/hedges useful for identifying scholarly literature in the field of palliative care.

Rietjens JA, Bramer WM, Geijteman EC, van der Heide A, Oldenmenger WH. Development and validation of search filters to find articles on palliative care in bibliographic databases. Palliat Med. 2019 Apr;33(4):470-474. doi:10.1177/0269216318824275. Epub 2019 Jan 28. PubMed PMID: 30688143; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6439930.

Search filters can be used by anyone carrying out database searches, both professional librarians and non-librarians alike. They help you save time by allowing you to take advantage of the good work of others to more quickly and efficiently extract what you need from bibliographic databases.

To add a search filter to your search strategy, simply copy the appropriate search string provided by the authors and paste it into the database search form that you are using, being sure to note the database name and vendor interface (the syntax will vary depending on the particular interface being used). You can copy the palliative care filter directly from Table 1 or from the plain text version available in the Supplemental data file. After starting your research with the topic-specific core set of search results that the search filter/hedge returns, you can then add your favorite terms to further customize the search strategy toward your particular interests.

For more tips on identifying literature on a particular topic, be sure to Ask Us!

The National Cancer Institute‘s PDQ® (Physician Data Query) cancer information summaries are “peer-reviewed, evidence-based summaries on topics including adult and pediatric cancer treatment, supportive and palliative care, screening, prevention, genetics, and complementary and alternative medicine.” Versions specifically customized for both patients and health professionals are freely-available for every topic and can be accessed via PubMed or via the NCBI Bookshelf.

The range of topics available is quite extensive, with the Treatment section even including a recently updated PDQ® on Financial Toxicity, a topic both patients and health professionals could benefit from knowing more about – for example, see:

PDQ Adult Treatment Editorial Board. Financial Toxicity (Financial Distress) and Cancer Treatment (PDQ®): Patient Version. 2019 Jul 3. PDQ Cancer Information Summaries [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Cancer Institute (US); 2002-. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441635/   PubMed PMID: 28682576.

To find out more about the development and impact of the PDQ® series, be sure to read this article:

Manrow RE, Beckwith M, Johnson LE. NCI’s Physician Data Query (PDQ®) cancer information summaries: history, editorial processes, influence, and reach. J Cancer Educ. 2014 Mar;29(1):198-205. doi: 10.1007/s13187-013-0536-3. PubMed PMID: 23996204.

Questions? Ask Us!

In 2017, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) introduced a new field, Conflict of Interest Statement [COIS], into the PubMed record to accommodate the conflict of interest statement from the published article (i.e., as provided by the publisher) being indexed.

The information generally appears in this format (example from NLM):

COIS – [The author] has been paid for developing and delivering educational presentations for [foundation].

COIS – The author acknowledges the donation of [devices] from [company] for the pilot study.

Searching

To retrieve all citations that contain conflict of interest statements, you can use the PubMed query hascois, for example:

(hascois) AND sloan kettering[Affiliation]

The PubMed search can also be restricted to looking only at the content in this field (i.e., field searching in COIS) via the Advanced Search option, for example:

Novartis[Conflict of Interest Statements]

To learn more, be sure to check out the MSK Library’s LibGuide focused on Conflict of Interest (COI) or Ask Us!