171 Ashley Ave.
Charleston, SC 29425
843-792-1414
800-424-MUSC
|
 |
September 2006
Evidence-Based Tip
We have classified our question, "In children with recurrent otitis media, are grommets (middle ear ventilation) more effective
than antibiotics or no treatment (placebo), in reducing the frequency of episodes and the duration of the episodes" as a
therapy question, which we know can be best answered by a randomized controlled trial (RCT), meta-analysis, or systematic review.
PubMed is a good place to start, as it indexes over 5,000 medical journals and is available on the web from NIH and the National
Library of Medicine at www.pubmed.gov.
By choosing "Clinical Queries" from the left side bar, we can easily pose our question,
choosing the type of question and the scope, narrow, which will activate a filter to search for RCTs.
We can also use the "Clinical Queries" section to search for systematic reviews.
Although not absolutely necessary, using "AND" between search terms can give you a more precise search. Do NOT use quotes in
PubMed, as that will decrease the number of articles by turning off the automatic matching to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).
Since "grommets" is not a medical subject heading (MeSH), using the MeSH term "middle ear ventilation" will improve the
relevancy of the search results.
The use of these search techniques will help you find references to articles that provide the best evidence for your clinical question.
|
|
Print Version