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Comparative Study
. 2006 Feb;116(2):336-40.
doi: 10.1097/01.mlg.0000195371.72887.a2.

Searching the literature using medical subject headings versus text word with PubMed

Angela A Chang  1 , Karen M Heskett, Terence M Davidson
Affiliations
Free article
Comparative Study

Searching the literature using medical subject headings versus text word with PubMed

Angela A Chang et al. Laryngoscope. 2006 Feb.
Free article

Abstract

Objective/hypothesis: This study was conducted to investigate the performance of two search strategies in the retrieval of information from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) on otolaryngology-head and neck surgery related conditions and diagnoses using PubMed.

Methods: Two search strategies-one based on the use of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and the second based on text word searching-were compared.

Results: The MeSH search provided a more efficient search than the text word search.

Conclusions: Head and neck surgeons can most efficiently search the NLM using PubMed as a search engine by initiating the search with MeSH terms. Once a key article is identified, the searcher should use the "Related Articles" feature.

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