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Related Experiment Videos

Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?

Emma Meats1, Jon Brassey, Carl Heneghan

  • 1Department of Primary Health Care, Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of Oxford, Rosemary Rue Building, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom. emma.meats@dphpc.ox.ac.uk

Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA
|April 20, 2007
PubMed
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Clinicians often use single terms in health information searches, neglecting Boolean operators. Improved search interfaces or training are needed for more effective online information retrieval.

Area of Science:

  • Health Informatics
  • Information Science
  • Clinical Research

Background:

  • Clinicians and patients increasingly rely on internet searches for health information.
  • The Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database is a key resource for accessing curated health information.
  • Understanding clinician search behavior is crucial for optimizing information retrieval.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze clinicians' search patterns within the TRIP database.
  • To identify areas for improvement in search engine use and interface design.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of current search strategies employed by clinicians.

Main Methods:

  • Web log analysis of 620,735 searches in the TRIP database.
  • Examination of search term connectors, including Boolean operators (AND, OR).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Observational study of 9 users' search behavior and interaction with the TRIP database.

    • Main Results:

    • The majority of searches utilized a single term, with only 12% employing Boolean operators.
    • "AND" was used in 11% of searches, while "OR" was used in less than 1%.
    • Searches frequently included the 'population' element but rarely the 'intervention,' 'comparator,' or 'outcome' components of a clinical question.

    Conclusions:

    • Clinicians' search strategies often lack complexity, relying on single terms and minimal use of Boolean logic.
    • Users expressed a desire for more efficient searching but lacked the knowledge to implement it effectively.
    • Enhancements in user training or search interface design are recommended to facilitate more effective clinical information retrieval.