Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T02:14:18.929Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MAKING PROCESSES RELIABLE: A VALIDATED PUBMED SEARCH STRATEGY FOR IDENTIFYING NEW OR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2012

Leonora Varela-Lema ,
Jeanette Punal-Riobóo ,
Beatriz Casal Acción ,
Alberto Ruano-Ravina  and
Marisa López García
Leonora Varela-Lema
Affiliation:
Galician Agency for Health Technology Assessment (avalia-t), Galician Department of Health, Santiago de Compostela email: avalia-t1@sergas.es
Jeanette Punal-Riobóo
Affiliation:
Galician Agency for Health Technology Assessment (avalia-t), Galician Department of Health, Santiago de Compostela
Beatriz Casal Acción
Affiliation:
Galician Agency for Health Technology Assessment (avalia-t), Galician Department of Health, Santiago de Compostela
Alberto Ruano-Ravina
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, CIBERESP
Marisa López García
Affiliation:
Galician Agency for Health Technology Assessment (avalia-t), Galician Department of Health, Santiago de Compostela
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Horizon scanning systems need to handle a wide range of sources to identify new or emerging health technologies. The objective of this study is to develop a validated Medline bibliographic search strategy (PubMed search engine) to systematically identify new or emerging health technologies.

Methods: The proposed Medline search strategy combines free text terms commonly used in article titles to denote innovation within index terms that make reference to the specific fields of interest. Efficacy was assessed by running the search over a period of 1 year (2009) and analyzing its retrieval performance (number and characteristics). For comparison purposes, all article abstracts published during 2009 in six preselected key research journals and eight high impact surgery journals were scanned. Sensitivity was defined as the proportion of relevant new or emerging technologies published in key journals that would be identified in the search strategy within the first 2 years of publication.

Results: The search yielded 6,228 abstracts of potentially new or emerging technologies. Of these, 459 were classified as new or emerging (383 truly new or emerging and 76 new indications). The scanning of 12,061 journal abstracts identified 35 relevant new or emerging technologies. Of these, twenty-nine were located within the Medline search strategy during the first 2 years of publication (sensitivity = 83 percent).

Conclusions: The current search strategy, validated against key journals, has demonstrated to be effective for horizon scanning. Even though it can require adaptations depending on the scope of the horizon scanning system, it could serve to simplify and standardize scanning processes.

Keywords

Horizon scanningEarly warning systemsHealth Technology AssessmentBibliographic databasesSearch engine
Type
METHODS
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , October 2012 , pp. 452 - 459
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Benguria Arrate, G, Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, I, Llanos, Aet al., Red estatal de identificación, priorización y evaluación temprana de tecnologías sanitarias nuevas y emergentes. Madrid: Servicio de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias del País Vasco (Osteba); 2006. Report No. Osteba N° 2006/01.Google Scholar
2.Douw, K, Vondeling, H. Selection of new health technologies for assessment aimed at informing decision making: A survey among horizon scanning systems. Int J Health Technol Assess Health Care. 2006;22:177–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Douw, K, Vondeling, H, Eskildsen, D, Simpson, S. Use of the internet in scanning the horizon for new and emerging health technologies: A survey of agencies involved in horizon scanning. J Med Internet Res. 2003;5:e6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.EuroScan International Network. EuroScan. [Web site] Birmingham: EuroScan International Network; 2012. http://euroscan.org.uk/contact/ (accessed December 2011).Google Scholar
5.Glenn, R, Gabbay, J, Stevens, A. Which are the best information sources for identifying emerging health care technologies? Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 1998;14:636–643.Google Scholar
6.Goodman, CS. HTA 101: Introduction to health technology assessment. United States National Library of Medicine. 2004. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/hta101/hta101.pdf (accessed August 2011).Google Scholar
7.Haase, A, Follmann, M, Skipka, G, Kirchner, H. Developing search strategies for clinical practice guidelines in SUMSearch and Google Scholar and assessing their retrieval performance. BMC Med Res Method. 2007;2007:1–11.Google Scholar
8.Haynes, RB, Wilczynski, NL, McKibbon, KA, Walker, CJ, Sinclair, JC. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound studies in MEDLINE. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 1994;1:447–458.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Mundy, L, Merlin, TL, Parrella, A, et al.The Australia and New Zealand horizon scanning network. Aust Health Rev. 2005;29:395–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubMed. [Web site] Bethesda: NCBI; 2012. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ (accessed January 2012).Google Scholar
11.O'Malley, SP, Jordan, E. Horizon scanning of new and emerging medical technology in Australia: Its relevance to Medical Services Advisory Committee health technology assessments and public funding. Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2009;25:374–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Packer, C. The National Horizon Scanning Centre (NHSC): Early warning system for new and emerging technologies in England. Evid Based Healthc Public Health. 2005;9:410–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Pluddemann, A, Heneghan, C, Thompson, M, et al.Prioritisation criteria for the selection of new diagnostic technologies for evaluation. BMC Med Res Method. 2010;10:1–8.Google ScholarPubMed
14.Real Decreto por el que se establece la cartera de servicios comunes del Sistema Nacional de Salud y el procedimiento para su actualización, RD 1030/2006 BOE. Sect. 22 (September 15, 2006). http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2006/09/16/pdfs/A32650-32679.pdfGoogle Scholar
15.Robert, G, Stevens, A, Gabbay, J. Early warning system for identifying new healthcare technologies. Health Technol Assess. 1999;3 (13).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Simpson, S, Hiller, J, Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, Iet al., A toolkit for the identification and assessment of new and emerging technologies. EuroScan. Birmingham: EuroScan International Network; 2009. www.euroscan.org.uk (accessed January 2012).Google Scholar
17.Simpson, S, Packer, C, Carlsson, P, et al.Early identification and assessment of new and emerging technologies: Actions, progress, and the future direction of an international collaboration-EuroScan. Int J Health Technol Assess Health Care. 2008;24:518–525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Smith, J, Cook, A, Packer, C. Evaluation criteria to assess the value of identification sources for horizon scanning. Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2010;26:348–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Thygesen, M, Vondeling, H, Douw, K. Development of an Internet search strategy to identify new medical technologies in prostate cancer. Ugeskr Laeger. 2007;169:1912–1916.Google ScholarPubMed
20.Topfer, LA, Parada, A, Menon, D, et al.Comparison of literature searches on quality and costs for health technology assessment using the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. Int J Health Technol Assess Health Care. 1999;15:297–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed