Handsearching the Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps for trials

Abstract

As part of the Cochrane Collaboration's international research endeavour, the authors carried out a handsearch of the RAMC Journal from 1948 to 1998, searching for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials (CCTs). Ten trials were identified, of which 6 were RCTs and 4 were CCTs. The first trial was published in 1967. Four of the 10 identified trials were in the field of respiratory medicine, and 2 were in obstetrics and gynaecology. Of the 10 trials, only 3 had been found through a rigorous interrogation of Medline. The 7 newly identified trials were reported to the UK Cochrane Centre, and summary details of these trials were entered into Medline for use by clinicians and investigators in the future.