Objective 4a: Keyword Search for Indexed Studies (search 2, optional)

Search 1b is not required for your group project.  This keyword search is performed to identify indexed (MEDLINE) PubMed records that cannot be retrieved by a MeSH search because the records were added to MEDLINE before the introduction date of one or more of the  MeSH headings required by the MeSH search.  

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Why run this search? 

The keyword search for indexed studies is run for two reasons:

1. This search can  identif records published earlier than the dates your MeSH search can reach.  If your MeSH search requires the presence of a recently introduced MeSH heading in all retrieved records or if you are researching an older drug, you should probably perform this optional search.  That said, most students’ formulary monograph projects will be focused on new/newish drugs and will use MeSH that were introduced at the time their drug of interest began being investigated or much earlier.  Eculizumab, the drug of interest in the this tutorial’s example search, was FDA approved in 2007.  It was probably studied for years before its approval.  The MeSH search we have constructed will only retrieve records indexed in  February 18, 2004 or later.   There’s a good chance that no studies published before 2004 will touch on eculizumab’s use in thrombosis, but I would want to check.
2.  This search, the keyword search for indexed (MEDLINE) PubMed records,  can also be used to check the adequacy of a MeSH search (search 1).  A discussion of this second dduse is beyond the scope of this tutorial.

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Prepare for and Run the search:

• Retain the filters you applied to the MeSH search for indexed records (Clinical Trial, Phase II, Clinical Trial, Phase III, Clinical Trial, Phase IV, Randomized Controlled Trial, English, and Humans.) .  If these filters are still active, you will not have to change them.
• If you are not already looking at the search results for your keyword search, clear the search box, paste your keyword search in the box, and click on the “Search” button or hit the “Enter” or “Return” key on your keyboard.
• Add a “Custom Range” “Publication date” filter.  The eculizumab search should retrieve relevant things published on 2/18/2004 or later, but I’m going to give PubMed’s indexers about a year to get used to the heading that was introduced in 2004.  I’ll use a date range of 1800 – 2005

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Document the search

• Click on the “Advanced” link under the search box.
• Find the trial-filtered, keyword search row in your “History and search Details” table.
• Click on the three-dot (ellipsis) icon in the “Actions” column and select the “Add Query” option

• Scroll up to the search box and copy the search box contents (which now contains search-box friendly versions of your filters).

• Paste the search under the “1b (optional).Keyword search for indexed PubMed (MEDLINE) records…” heading.  You may want to note the number of search results.