Having decided what we are going to search for, the next important
aspect of the searching is deciding where to look. In consultation with the
review team we have decided which bibliographic databases and other resources should
be searched and the words and phrases that will be used. We need to search different
databases because they each include different literature. Sometimes the content overlaps so we have to
make sure we remove duplicate records from the search results, but it’s better
to find something twice than miss it from a search.
A good systematic review must search at least Medline and Embase
because these databases are the most comprehensive and important ones in health
sciences. Our search includes a number
of other databases, for example CINAHL which covers a wide range of topics
including nursing and allied health disciplines. We have also considered
specialist databases, and are including the database PEDro which indexes the
physiotherapy literature in our list of databases to search. We are also
searching clinical trials registers to identify ongoing or unpublished studies.
This should help make sure we find the most up to date research available.
Since starting this blog post I have now complete the
searches. I have identified 4233
bibliographic references for the reviewers to look through. Hidden amongst
these will be the studies which might just help us find out which orthotics are
most helpful for people with knee instability in neuromuscular disease and
central nervous system disorders.
Blogger: Rocio Rodriguez-Lopez
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