Searching the health care literature efficiently: from clinical decision-making to continuing education

Searching the health care literature is an activity in which infection control professionals must routinely engage to seek evidence-based answers to specific practice questions and to stay abreast of developments in the field. Without the appropriate tools, the tremendous volume of clinical literature makes both of these daunting tasks. In this article, we illustrate techniques for searching MEDLINE efficiently, both as a means of answering particular clinical questions and for generating periodic updates on topics of general interest. With use of a specific example relevant to infection control, we demonstrate the identification of appropriate Medical Subject Headings terms that capture a given question or topic and the development of effective searches with use of these terms. We also touch on the advantages of targeting systematic reviews and meta-analyses in searching for evidence and staying abreast of the literature in general.