Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28003291›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2016

PubMed search filters for the study of putative outdoor air pollution determinants of disease.

Stefania Curti, Davide Gori, Valentina Di Gregori, Andrea Farioli, Alberto Baldasseroni, Maria Pia Fantini, David C Christiani, Francesco S Violante, Stefano Mattioli

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Stefania CurtiDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Davide GoriDepartment of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Valentina Di GregoriDepartment of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Andrea FarioliDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Alberto BaldasseroniTuscany Regional Centre for Occupational Injuries and Diseases (CeRIMP), Florence, Italy.
Maria Pia FantiniDepartment of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
David C ChristianiDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Francesco S ViolanteDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Stefano MattioliDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
University of Bologna · ITHarvard University · USRegione Toscana

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesSeveral PubMed search filters have been developed in contexts other than environmental. We aimed at identifying efficient PubMed search filters for the study of environmental determinants of diseases related to outdoor air pollution.

methodsWe compiled a list of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and non-MeSH terms seeming pertinent to outdoor air pollutants exposure as determinants of diseases in the general population. We estimated proportions of potentially pertinent articles to formulate two filters (one 'more specific', one 'more sensitive'). Their overall performance was evaluated as compared with our gold standard derived from systematic reviews on diseases potentially related to outdoor air pollution. We tested these filters in the study of three diseases potentially associated with outdoor air pollution and calculated the number of needed to read (NNR) abstracts to identify one potentially pertinent article in the context of these diseases. Last searches were run in January 2016.

resultsThe 'more specific' filter was based on the combination of terms that yielded a threshold of potentially pertinent articles ≥40%. The 'more sensitive' filter was based on the combination of all search terms under study. When compared with the gold standard, the 'more specific' filter reported the highest specificity (67.4%; with a sensitivity of 82.5%), while the 'more sensitive' one reported the highest sensitivity (98.5%; with a specificity of 47.9%). The NNR to find one potentially pertinent article was 1.9 for the 'more specific' filter and 3.3 for the 'more sensitive' one.

conclusionsThe proposed search filters could help healthcare professionals investigate environmental determinants of medical conditions that could be potentially related to outdoor air pollution.

Indexed as

PubMedResearchAir PollutantsAir PollutionHumansInformation Storage and RetrievalMedical Subject HeadingsSearch EngineAir PollutantsPREVENTIVE MEDICINESTATISTICS & RESEARCH METHODS

Identifiers

PMID28003291
PMCPMC5223690
OpenAlexW2563660354

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.