Topic Search Syntax

An example search
This technical note is not for the faint hearted! It is a transparent record of how a PubMed topic search was created. Using the Dyspnoea PubMed topic search (restricted to the strongest evidence and free full text articles only) as an example, the exact URL syntax used in the construction of this topic search is included below. A colour key provides a reference point for different components of the search.

Recall from Technical Notes that Part 1 consists of Concepts, logically represented as Part 1 = (Concept 1 AND Concept 2), where Concept 1 is designed to search for the topic, typically using one or two MeSH terms and Concept 2 is the palliative filter. Part 2 consists of 3 Concepts, logically represented as Part 2 = (Concept 3 AND Concept 4) NOT Concept 5, where Concept 3 is designed to search for a topic, typically using one or two textwords. Concept 4 is the palliative filter. Concept 5 is the standard limit for searching only Medline.

Note that all key Boolean operators are in black to highlight the separation of key concepts.

Colour Key
Pink = The phrase that PubMed provides to initiate a real time PubMed search
Light Green = MeSH terms selected for the concept of dyspnoea (Concept 1)
Red = The palliative filter developed through published research (Concept 2)
Dark Green = Textword search for dyspnoea (Concept 3)
Orange = Modified palliative filter (Concept 4)
Purple = Exclusion of Medline records (Concept 5)
Light Blue = Restrict to English (Additional Concept)
Dark Blue = PubMed Clinical Queries filter for systematic reviews/therapy (Additional Concept)
Plum = Restrict to free full text articles only (Additional Concept)

The Search
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term= ((dyspnea[mh]+OR+anoxia[mh])+AND+(advance+care+planning[mh]+OR+attitude+to+death[mh]+OR+bereavement[mh]+OR+terminal+care[mh]+OR+hospices[mh]+OR+life+support+care[mh]+OR+palliative+care[mh]+OR+terminally+ill[mh]+OR+death[mh:noexp]+OR+palliat*[Text+Word]+OR+hospice*[Text+Word]+OR+terminal+care[Text+Word]+OR+1049-9091[journal]+OR+1472-684X[journal]+OR+1357-6321[journal]+OR+1536-0539[journal]+OR+0825-8597[journal]+OR+1557-7740[journal]+OR+1552-4264[journal]+OR+1478-9523[journal]+OR+1477-030X[journal]+OR+0749-1565[journal]+OR+0742-969X[journal]+OR+1544-6794[journal]+OR+0941-4355[journal]+OR+1873-6513[journal]+OR+0145-7624[journal]+OR+1091-7683[journal]+OR+0030-2228[journal]))+OR+((dyspnoea[text+word]+OR+dyspnea[text+word]+OR+anoxia[text+word])+AND+(advance+care+plan*[text+word]+OR+attitude+to+death[text+word]+OR+bereavement[text+word]+OR+terminal+care[text+word]+OR+life+supportive+care[text+word]+OR+terminally+ill[text+word]+OR+palliat*[Text+Word]+OR+hospice*[Text+Word]+OR+terminal+care[Text+Word]+OR+1049-9091[journal]+OR+1472-684X[journal]+OR+1357-6321[journal]+OR+1536-0539[journal]+OR+0825-8597[journal]+OR+1557-7740[journal]+OR+1552-4264[journal]+OR+1478-9523[journal]+OR+1477-030X[journal]+OR+0749-1565[journal]+OR+0742-969X[journal]+OR+1544-6794[journal]+OR+0941-4355[journal]+OR+1873-6513[journal]+OR+0145-7624[journal]+OR+1091-7683[journal]+OR+0030-2228[journal])+NOT+Medline[sb])+AND+English[lang]+AND+(systematic[sb]+OR+((clinical[title/abstract]+AND+trial[title/Abstract])+OR+clinical+trial[publication+type]+OR+random*[title/abstract]+OR+random+allocation[mh]+OR+therapeutic+use/sh))+AND+free+full+text[sb]

This page was created on 30 April 2008 and is due for review in April 2010