Can we prioritise which databases to search? A case study using a systematic review of frozen shoulder management
Open accessAbstract
Background: Systematic reviews risk producing biased conclusions if a comprehensive search to identify eligible studies is not undertaken, but little evidence exists to guide prioritisation of databases to search when resources are limited. Objectives: A systematic review examining interventions for managing frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) was used to investigate the performance of bibliographic databases in identifying the included studies, the smallest combination of databases required to retrieve all included studies, and the performance of the searches themselves. Methods: We calculated the yield of included studies from each of 15 databases, and the recall and precision of each search strategy. We investigated differences between the presence of a record in a database and its retrieval. Results: Thirty of 31 studies were present in at least one database. Yields of individual databases ranged from 0% to 90% (median 23%). Two combinations of databases identified all 30 studies: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Science Citation Index (SCI); or CENTRAL, MEDLINE and Pre MEDLINE. Conclusions: In a systematic review of a range of interventions used to manage frozen shoulder, at least two databases and reference checking were required to retrieve all included studies, but searching for future reviews should not be restricted.
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Investigators and information specialists searching for a systematic review are generally advised to search multiple databases and to use additional methods to identify all relevant literature.
“Investigators and information specialists searching for relevant references for a systematic review (SR) are generally advised to search multiple databases and to use additional methods to be able to adequately identify all literature related to the topic of interest [1–6].”
From Optimal database combinations for literature searches in systematic reviews: a prospective exploratory study (2017) · cites this paper as [6]
When conducting exhaustive searches for systematic reviews, information professionals search multiple databases with overlapping content.
“When conducting exhaustive searches for systematic reviews, information professionals search multiple databases with overlapping content [1-4].”
From De-duplication of database search results for systematic reviews in EndNote (2016) · cites this paper as [4]
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- Authors
- Beyer, F. R., & Wright, K.
- Affiliations
- University of York (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Beyer, Fiona R.
- Venue
- Health Information & Libraries Journal
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2012-12-12
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 49-58
- ISSN
- 1471-1834 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-1842
- OpenAlex
- W2112924292
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Health Information & Libraries Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › scientometrics and bibliometrics research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Sciences Research and Education
- Keywords
- bibliographic database searching, frozen shoulder, systematic review search strategy, Central, MEDLINE, reference checking
- MeSH terms
- Bursitis, Humans, Review Literature as Topic, Databases, Bibliographic, MEDLINE
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