[The utilization of Medline for the solution of real clinical problems. A prospective study in Italy]

Measure of usefulness of Medline searches requested for clinical problems.

open prospective uncontrolled study lasted for 3 months. Collection of online or CD-ROM Medline searches operated by clinicians or librarians at 5 biomedical libraries. User interviews about use and usefulness of Medline, recorded with a closed-answer self-administered questionnaire, adapted from a U.S. National Library of Medicine product.

Of the 6 participating libraries, one was excluded from analysis from data collection inadequacies. Among 668 searches, 55 (8.2%) were produced for real patients. Physicians judgement about clinical usefulness of their searches (available for 46 cases) indicate a significant importance for diagnostic evaluation (23%) and therapy administration (46%). After applying search results into clinical practice, clinicians think that positive outcomes are achieved in the doctor-patient-family relationship area (19%), a better use of health care system facilities is obtained (26%) and, less consistently, positive effects are perceived on longevity (5%), abnormality correction (10%), symptomatic relief (7%) and functional recovery (6%).

Physicians judge that Medline searches actually can contribute to diagnosis and treatment of real patients, with significant benefits on the process of care, on doctor-patient relationship and on patient's health.