Databases, Bibliographic

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this investigation was to explore the effectiveness of search strategies developed to identify trials of specific complementary therapies in a range of clinical conditions. DESIGN: All primary studies included in a series of systematic reviews were identified. An analysis of the original source of the study and search term(s) by means of which the study had originally been retrieved was carried out. Each study was then searched for in each of 6 databases (AMED, Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO).

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has succeeded to implement itself in the academic context of universities. In order to get information on CAM, clinicians, researchers and healthcare professionals as well as the lay public are increasingly turning to online portals and databases, which disseminate relevant resources. One specific type of online information retrieval systems, namely the database, is being reviewed in this article. QUESTION: This overview aims at systematically retrieving and describing all databases covering the field of CAM.

BACKGROUND: Bibliographic databases are the primary resource for identifying systematic reviews of health care interventions. Reliable retrieval of systematic reviews depends on the scope of indexing used by database providers. Therefore, searching one database may be insufficient, but it is unclear how many need to be searched. We sought to evaluate the performance of seven major bibliographic databases for the identification of systematic reviews for hypertension.

We searched databases for controlled clinical studies, and performed a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of yoga interventions on pain and associated disability. Five randomized studies reported single-blinding and had a higher methodological quality; 7 studies were randomized but not blinded and had moderate quality; and 4 nonrandomized studies had low quality. In 6 studies, yoga was used to treat patients with back pain; in 2 studies to treat rheumatoid arthritis; in 2 studies to treat patients with headache/migraine; and 6 studies enrolled individuals for other indications.

While yoga is gaining increased popularity in North America and Europe, its safety has been questioned in the lay press. The aim of this systematic review was to assess published case reports and case series on adverse events associated with yoga. Medline/Pubmed, Scopus, CAMBase, IndMed and the Cases Database were screened through February 2013; and 35 case reports and 2 case series reporting a total of 76 cases were included. Ten cases had medical preconditions, mainly glaucoma and osteopenia.

As yoga has gained popularity as a therapeutic intervention, its safety has been questioned in the lay press. Thus, this review aimed to systematically assess and meta-analyze the frequency of adverse events in randomized controlled trials of yoga. MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and IndMED were screened through February 2014. Of 301 identified randomized controlled trials of yoga, 94 (1975-2014; total of 8,430 participants) reported on adverse events.

BACKGROUND: The public's increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) poses unique challenges for primary care physicians in knowledge and patient communication. The objective of our study was to assess Alberta family physicians' interest in CAM information and the type of information sources they currently use. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was designed and mailed to a random sample of family physicians registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this investigation was to explore the effectiveness of search strategies developed to identify trials of specific complementary therapies in a range of clinical conditions. DESIGN: All primary studies included in a series of systematic reviews were identified. An analysis of the original source of the study and search term(s) by means of which the study had originally been retrieved was carried out. Each study was then searched for in each of 6 databases (AMED, Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO).

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has succeeded to implement itself in the academic context of universities. In order to get information on CAM, clinicians, researchers and healthcare professionals as well as the lay public are increasingly turning to online portals and databases, which disseminate relevant resources. One specific type of online information retrieval systems, namely the database, is being reviewed in this article. QUESTION: This overview aims at systematically retrieving and describing all databases covering the field of CAM.

BACKGROUND: The public's increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) poses unique challenges for primary care physicians in knowledge and patient communication. The objective of our study was to assess Alberta family physicians' interest in CAM information and the type of information sources they currently use. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was designed and mailed to a random sample of family physicians registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.