Comparing Databases for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Trials
Author Information
Author(s): Elise Cogo, Margaret Sampson, Ajiferuke Isola, Eric Manheimer, Kaitryn Campbell, Raymond Daniel, David Moher
Primary Institution: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
Hypothesis
This project aims to assess the utility of bibliographic databases beyond the three major ones for finding controlled trials of complementary and alternative medicine.
Conclusion
The study found that comprehensive searches for CAM literature require multiple databases due to low overlap between them.
Supporting Evidence
- Five databases were found to be unproductive and did not yield any eligible records.
- Only 10% of all included trials were found in more than one database.
- Acubriefs and CINAHL were the most productive databases for finding CAM trials.
Takeaway
The study looked at 15 databases to see which ones are best for finding studies on alternative medicine. It found that you need to check many databases because they don't all have the same information.
Methodology
Fifteen databases were searched to identify controlled clinical trials of CAM not indexed in MEDLINE, using a highly sensitive search strategy.
Limitations
Some databases were found to be unproductive and had low precision in retrieving relevant trials.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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