Searching one or two databases was insufficient for meta-analysis of observational studies

To address methodologic issues in searching for observational studies by presenting database search methods and results. Results of two literature searches for publications reporting on observational studies of alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer and large bowel cancer were compared, t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical epidemiology 2005-09, Vol.58 (9), p.867-873
Main Authors: Lemeshow, Adina R., Blum, Robin E., Berlin, Jesse A., Stoto, Michael A., Colditz, Graham A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol drinking
Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology
Alcoholism
Bibliographic databases
Biological and medical sciences
Breast cancer
Breast Neoplasms - epidemiology
Cancer
Databases, Bibliographic
Epidemiologic studies
Epidemiology
Female
General aspects
Humans
Intestinal Neoplasms - epidemiology
Intestine, Large
Medical sciences
MEDLINE
Meta-analysis
Meta-Analysis as Topic
Methodology
Observational studies
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Risk Factors
Sensitivity
Studies
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Description
Summary:To address methodologic issues in searching for observational studies by presenting database search methods and results. Results of two literature searches for publications reporting on observational studies of alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer and large bowel cancer were compared, to evaluate the sensitivity of various bibliographic databases and search strategies, including hand-searching reviews and meta-analyses. The target sensitivity of 90% of publications in the breast cancer search was achieved by starting with Medline, then adding Biosis, Embase, and SCI EXPANDED–SSCI, which provided a total of 72 (91%) of the 79 relevant publications. To reach a similar 89% sensitivity for large bowel cancer, at least Biosis, Dissertation Abstracts Online, Embase, ETOH, and Medline had to be searched, with the addition of hand search of reviews and meta-analyses. Limiting a search to one or two databases when conducting meta-analyses of observational studies will not provide a thorough summary of the existing literature. The findings support recommendations to implement a comprehensive search of electronic databases and the reference lists of recent review articles and meta-analyses.
ISSN:0895-4356
1878-5921
DOI:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2005.03.004