Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011;6(8):e23487.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023487. Epub 2011 Aug 12.

To compare PubMed Clinical Queries and UpToDate in teaching information mastery to clinical residents: a crossover randomized controlled trial

Ladan Sayyah Ensan  1 , Masoomeh Faghankhani, Anna Javanbakht, Seyed-Foad Ahmadi, Hamid Reza Baradaran
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

To compare PubMed Clinical Queries and UpToDate in teaching information mastery to clinical residents: a crossover randomized controlled trial

Ladan Sayyah Ensan et al. PLoS One. 2011.

Abstract

Purpose: To compare PubMed Clinical Queries and UpToDate regarding the amount and speed of information retrieval and users' satisfaction.

Method: A cross-over randomized trial was conducted in February 2009 in Tehran University of Medical Sciences that included 44 year-one or two residents who participated in an information mastery workshop. A one-hour lecture on the principles of information mastery was organized followed by self learning slide shows before using each database. Subsequently, participants were randomly assigned to answer 2 clinical scenarios using either UpToDate or PubMed Clinical Queries then crossed to use the other database to answer 2 different clinical scenarios. The proportion of relevantly answered clinical scenarios, time to answer retrieval, and users' satisfaction were measured in each database.

Results: Based on intention-to-treat analysis, participants retrieved the answer of 67 (76%) questions using UpToDate and 38 (43%) questions using PubMed Clinical Queries (P<0.001). The median time to answer retrieval was 17 min (95% CI: 16 to 18) using UpToDate compared to 29 min (95% CI: 26 to 32) using PubMed Clinical Queries (P<0.001). The satisfaction with the accuracy of retrieved answers, interaction with UpToDate and also overall satisfaction were higher among UpToDate users compared to PubMed Clinical Queries users (P<0.001).

Conclusions: For first time users, using UpToDate compared to Pubmed Clinical Queries can lead to not only a higher proportion of relevant answer retrieval within a shorter time, but also a higher users' satisfaction. So, addition of tutoring pre-appraised sources such as UpToDate to the information mastery curricula seems to be highly efficient.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Question randomization flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Participants flow diagram.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Comparison of answer retrieval in PubMed Clinical Queries and UpToDate.
The percentage of whole answered questions is compared by the columns on the left, while the percentage of answered questions of diagnosis and therapy are compared by the columns on middle and on the right, subsequently.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Phillips R, Glasziou P. Evidence based practice: the practicalities of keeping abreast of clinical evidence while in training. Postgrad Med J. 2008;84(995):450–3. - PubMed
    1. Straus S, Haynes RB. Managing evidence-based knowledge: the need for reliable, relevant and readable resources. CMAJ. 2009;180(9):942–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Center for Evidence Based Medicine of University of Oxford. Resource center, power point presentation. Available from: http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=1083. Accessed November 6, 2009.
    1. Duke university medical center library. Tutorials & Training, 2009 EBM course. Available from: http://www.mclibrary.duke.edu/training/ebmcourse/intro. Accessed November 6, 2009.
    1. McMaster University. 2009 Course Materials-Large Group Presentations. Available from: http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/ebm/course_materials/course_materials_large_ grou.... Accessed November 6, 2009.

Publication types