Searching biomedical databases on complementary medicine: the use of controlled vocabulary among authors, indexers and investigators

Table 2 Frequency of validity and validity assessment terms in titles, abstracts and four databases

Validity Terms Used in the Search Strategies	Titles n = 38	Abstracts n = 37¹	MEDLINE (mh) n = 29²	MANTIS (de) n = 28²	CINAHL (sh) n = 13²	Web of Science n = 26^2,3,4
Accuracy, accurate	3	10				1
Analysis of variance [mh] [sh] [de]			2		3
Construct validity [sh]	2	1
Content validity [sh]
Convergent
Criterion / Criterion related validity [sh]		3			1
Discriminant Analysis [mh] [de]	1	3
Discriminant validity [sh]
Face validity [sh]
Gold standard		1
Instrumentation [sh]/instrument*	1	3	1	2	1
Judgment [mh] [sh]	1	1
Likelihood functions [mh] [de] / Likelihood ratio
Predict* (predictive, predictor, predictability)	3	7				2
Predictive value of tests [mh] [sh] [de]			6	1	1
Reference standards [mh] [de]
ROC / ROC curve [mh] [de]
Sensitivity and specificity [mh] [sh] [de]	2	7	3		2	2
Valid, validation, validation studies [pt] [sh], validity [sh]	7	6			2	2
Validity Assessment Terms
Galvanic skin response [mh] [de]	1	1	1	1
Measure*, Pain Measurement [mh] [sh] [de]	2	7	4	2	4	2
Radiography [mh] [sh] [de]	1	6	2	5	3	1
Thermography [mh] [sh] [de]	1	1	1			1
X-rays [mh]		3
Terms Used by Authors and Indexers but not in Search Strategies.
Machine*	1	2				2
Reference values [mh] [sh] [de]		1	2
Reference based	1	1
Reproducibility of results [mh] [sh] [de]			7	13

[mh] = Medical Subject Headings in MEDLINE; [pt] = publication type in MEDLINE; [sh] = Subject Heading in CINAHL [de] = Descriptor in MANTIS Note: ¹One study did not have an abstract online. ²Not all studies had abstracts. ³Web of Science does not have a controlled vocabulary. ⁴Eleven studies had no keywords generated. * is a truncation symbol for a wild card search in PubMed and Web of Science.

ISSN: 2662-7671