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Evolution of medical informatics in bibliographic databases
Paula Otero1, Federico Pedernera, Sergio Montenegro
1Department of Medical Informatics, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. paula.otero@hospitalitaliano.org.ar
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
|September 14, 2004
Summary
Medical Informatics is a growing specialty. A comparison of MEDLINE and LILACS databases shows LILACS better represents regional publications in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Area of Science:
- Health Sciences
- Medical Informatics
- Bibliometrics
Background:
- Medical Informatics has emerged as a distinct medical specialty.
- Numerous global journal articles reflect its growing significance.
- Previous research has analyzed Medical Informatics representation in MEDLINE.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the representation of Medical Informatics in MEDLINE and LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature).
- To evaluate the coverage of regional publications within these databases.
Main Methods:
- Searched MEDLINE (1966-2002) using "Medical Informatics" as a MeSH term and text word.
- Searched LILACS (1982-2002) using "Medical Informatics" as a DeCS term and text word.
- Analyzed the retrieved references from both databases.
Main Results:
- MEDLINE adequately reflects international Medical Informatics literature outside Latin America.
- MEDLINE demonstrates a deficit in capturing articles originating from Latin America and the Caribbean.
- LILACS, despite its smaller scale, contains a greater number of articles relevant to Medical Informatics in the specified region.
Conclusions:
- LILACS provides a more comprehensive representation of Medical Informatics literature within Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Regional databases like LILACS are crucial for accurately assessing the impact of specialized fields in specific geographic areas.