TY  - JOUR
A1  - Damarell, Raechel A.
A1  - Tieman, Jennifer
A1  - Sladek, Ruth M.
A1  - Davidson, Patricia M.
T1  - Development of a heart failure filter for Medline: an objective approach using evidence-based clinical practice guidelines as an alternative to hand searching.
JO  - BMC medical research methodology
Y1  - 2011/12/31
VL  - 11
SP  - 12
SN  - 1471-2288
AD  - Department of Palliative and Supportive Services, Flinders University, South Australia, Australia.
N2  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure is a highly debilitating syndrome with a poor prognosis primarily affecting the elderly. . Clinicians wanting timely access to heart failure evidence to provide optimal patient care can face many challenges in locating this evidence. . This study developed and validated a search filter of high clinical utility for the retrieval of heart failure articles in OvidSP Medline. . METHODS: A Clinical Advisory Group was established to advise study investigators. . The study set of 876 relevant articles from four heart failure clinical practice guidelines was divided into three datasets: a Term Identification Set, a Filter Development Set, and a Filter Validation Set. . A further validation set (the Cochrane Validation Set) was formed using studies included in Cochrane heart failure systematic reviews. . Candidate search terms were identified via word frequency analysis. . The filter was developed by creating combinations of terms and recording their performance in retrieving items from the Filter Development Set. . The filter's recall was then validated in both the Filter Validation Set and the Cochrane Validation Set. . A precision estimate was obtained post-hoc by running the filter in Medline and screening the first 200 retrievals for relevance to heart failure. . RESULTS: The four-term filter achieved a recall of 96.9% in the Filter Development Set; 98.2% in the Filter Validation Set; and 97.8% in the Cochrane Validation Set. . Of the first 200 references retrieved by the filter when run in Medline, 150 were deemed relevant and 50 irrelevant. . The post-hoc precision estimate was therefore 75%. . CONCLUSIONS: This study describes an objective method for developing a validated heart failure filter of high recall performance and then testing its precision post-hoc. . Clinical practice guidelines were found to be a feasible alternative to hand searching in creating a gold standard for filter development. . Guidelines may be especially appropriate given their clinical utility. . A validated heart failure filter is now available to support health professionals seeking reliable and efficient access to the heart failure literature.
ID  - 21272371.001
ER  -