Facilitating access to evidence: Primary Health Care Search Filter.

BACKGROUND

The evidence base developed by, and relevant to, primary health care (PHC) is rapidly increasing. With the wealth of literature available, searchers trying to find PHC-specific citations can feel overwhelmed.

OBJECTIVES

Flinders Filters and the Primary Health Care Research & Information Service collaborated to develop a search filter enabling efficient and effective retrieval of relevant PHC literature.

METHODS

Stage 1 involved developing a PHC Search Filter in the OvidSP Medline platform using a rigorous experimental methodology. The search filter was then translated for Web-based 'one-click searching' in PubMed during Stage 2. Stage 3 involved planning and implementing a mixed-methods evaluation.

RESULTS

The search filter sensitivity was 77.0% with a post hoc relevance assessment of 78.3%. Four months after its launch, a mixed-methods study evaluated the PHC Search Filter. With 90 respondents, analysis of data from the online survey demonstrated overarching benefits, a positive response to the tool and directions for further refinement of the PHC Search Filter.

DISCUSSION

Designing the PHC Search Filter followed an established method that ensures the tool offers a validated search strategy. Evaluation results suggest that the PHC Search Filter is a useful tool that is easy to navigate. Challenges for the Filter relate to access to full text articles, while challenges for the evaluation relate to the small sample size.

CONCLUSIONS

The PHC Search Filter reduces the burden associated with literature searching, increases the value of the results that are received and provides a useful resource to improve the likelihood of incorporating relevant evidence into policy and practice.