Therapy Studies: Filters
Inclusion of a search filter on this site is not an endorsement of its validity or a recommendation for its use by the editors of this site, by the InterTASC Information Specialists SubGroup or by the (UK) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). For suggestions on the appraisal of filters see the ISSG Search Filter Appraisal Checklist.
This page shows publications that have reviewed search filter performance and individual search filters.
Please note that other filter sites/filter collections may have relevant filters for this topic.
Publications that review search filter performance
Del Fiol G, Michelson M, Iorio A, Cotoi C, Haynes RB. A Deep Learning Method to Automatically Identify Reports of Scientifically Rigorous Clinical Research from the Biomedical Literature: Comparative Analytic Study. J Med Internet Res. 2018;20(6):e10281. doi: 10.2196/10281.
Researchers used a deep learning method to identify rigorous clinical research and compared their method to the PubMed Clinical Query treatment filters and a McMaster filter.
Hoogendam A, de Vries Robbé P F, Stalenhoef A F H, Overbeke J P M. Evaluation of PubMed filters used for evidence-based searching: validation using relative recall. J Med Libr Assoc. 2009; 97(3): 186-193. doi: 10.3163/1536-5050.97.3.007.
Individual search filters
Database indexing changes over time and new vocabulary may be introduced. With older filters, please check the subject indexing to ensure that the subject indexing is still current and, if not, consider whether new vocabulary may need to be added to the filter. Please note that if filters are amended, the performance may change from that published in the original articles and the filter should be reported as amended from the original filter.
Embase
Avau B, Van Remoortel H, De Buck E. Translation and validation of PubMed and Embase search filters for identification of systematic reviews, intervention studies, and observational studies in the field of first aid. J Med Libr Assoc. 2021;109(4):599-608. [Embase.com]
MEDLINE
Avau B, Van Remoortel H, De Buck E. Translation and validation of PubMed and Embase search filters for identification of systematic reviews, intervention studies, and observational studies in the field of first aid. J Med Libr Assoc. 2021;109(4):599-608. [PubMed]
Tummers M, van Hoorn R, Levering C, Booth A, van der Wilt GJ, Kievit W. Optimal search strategies for identifying moderators and predictors of treatment effects in PubMed. Health Info Libr J. 2019;36(4):318-340.
Launch the optimal sensitivity filter in PubMed
Budhram D, Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. The efficiency of database searches for creating systematic reviews was improved by search filters. J Clin Epidemiol 2018 Mar;95:1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2017.11.017. Epub 2017 Nov 27