The retrieval of randomized clinical trials in XXXX from the medical literature. A comparison of MEDLARS and manual methods.

@entity253 @entity409 @entity922
@entity922 ( @entity922 ) provide the most reliable therapeutic information available. Unfortunately, there are no systemic listing of @entity922 . We compared a MEDLARS search of 3686 biomedical journals for @entity922 with a manual search of the medical literature for the period 1966-1982. For the former search we used subject headings (1) @entity409 or (2) @entity253 and subheadings (1) drug therapy, (2) surgery, (3) radiotherapy, or (4) therapy, and check tags (1) comparative study or (2) clinical research. For the manual search, the contents of 34 arbitrarily selected, gastroenterologic, hepatologic, surgical, or general journals were perused. The MEDLARS search identified 160 @entity922 and 29 others were found in the references of the 160. One hundred fifty-four @entity922 were identified by both methods. The manual search identified 208 @entity922 and an additional 34 were found in the references of the 208. The MEDLARS search identified only 107 of 208 @entity922 found in the references of the 208. The MEDLARS search identified only 107 of 208 @entity922 found manually in the 36 journals, an efficiency rate of 51%. We estimate that 330 hepatobiliary @entity922 had been published during this 17-year period. Sixty percent of the @entity922 found by MEDLARS used the key word "randomized," "double blind," or "controlled" in the title, compared to 36% in those found by the manual search. In order to retrieve @entity922 , it is essential that editors require that @entity922 be identified in their titles or key words by specific terms such as "controlled," "randomized," and "double blind," that papers be so catalogued and indexed, and that searchers be instructed in appropriate search strategies.
