Validation of a search strategy to identify nutrition trials in PubMed using the relative recall method

To develop, assess, and maximize the sensitivity of a search strategy to identify diet and nutrition trials in PubMed using relative recall.

We developed a search strategy to identify diet and nutrition trials in PubMed. We then constructed a gold standard reference set to validate the identified trials using the relative recall method. Relative recall was calculated by dividing the number of references from the gold standard our search strategy identified by the total number of references in the gold standard.

Our gold standard comprised 298 trials, derived from 16 included systematic reviews. The initial search strategy identified 242 of 298 references, with a relative recall of 81.2% [95% confidence interval (CI): 76.3%, 85.5%]. We analyzed titles and abstracts of the 56 missed references for possible additional terms. We then modified the search strategy accordingly. The relative recall of the final search strategy was 88.6% (95% CI: 84.4%, 91.9%).

We developed a search strategy to identify diet and nutrition trials in PubMed with a high relative recall (sensitivity). This could be useful for establishing a nutrition trials register to support the conduct of future research, including systematic reviews.