| Heterogeneity in search strategies among Cochrane acupuncture reviews: is there room for improvement? | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20615852 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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OBJECTIVE: Given the international focus and rigorous literature searches employed in Cochrane systematic reviews, this study was undertaken to evaluate strategies employed in Cochrane reviews and protocols assessing acupuncture as a primary or secondary intervention. METHODS: The Cochrane Collaboration of systematic reviews was searched in February 2009 for all reviews and protocols including information on acupuncture. Information was abstracted from all retrieved articles on review status, type and number of English and Chinese language databases searched, participation of at least one Chinese speaking author and language restriction. Frequencies were calculated and bivariate analyses were performed stratifying on interventions of interest to assess differences in search strategy techniques, language restrictions and results. RESULTS: The search retrieved 68 titles, including 48 completed reviews, 17 protocols and three previously withdrawn titles. Acupuncture was the primary intervention of interest in 44/65 (67.7%) of the retrieved reviews and protocols. While all articles searched at least one English language database, only 26/65 (40.0%) articles searched Chinese language databases. Significantly more articles where acupuncture was the primary intervention of interest searched Chinese language databases (53% vs 9%, p<0.01). Inconclusive findings as to the effectiveness of acupuncture were found in 28/48 (58.3%) of all completed reviews; this type of finding was more common in reviews which did not search any Chinese language databases. CONCLUSIONS: It is important for reviews assessing the effectiveness of acupuncture to search Chinese language databases. The Cochrane Collaboration should develop specific criteria for Chinese language search strategies to ensure the continued publication of high-quality reviews. |
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Authors:
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Steve Lui; Erica J Smith; Mishka Terplan |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article Date: 2010-06-28 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society Volume: 28 ISSN: 0964-5284 ISO Abbreviation: Acupunct Med Publication Date: 2010 Sep |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-09-03 Completed Date: 2010-11-05 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9304117 Medline TA: Acupunct Med Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 149-53 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Nursing and Health Studies, Centre for Health and Social Care, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD13DH, UK. s.lui@hud.ac.uk |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Acupuncture Therapy*
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standards Bibliometrics* Databases, Bibliographic* / standards Evidence-Based Medicine* Humans Information Storage and Retrieval / methods*, standards Language Meta-Analysis as Topic Peer Review Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic Research Design Review Literature as Topic* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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