Table 3 Comparing the new strategies from 15 randomly sampled journals (R15) and from 2 top-yielding journals (T2) with the existing search strategies (ES) in the original large journal database
From: Sample size determination for bibliographic retrieval studies
Ovid search strategy* | Â | Sensitivity (%) (95% CI) | Specificity (%) (CI) | Precision (%) (CI) | Accuracy (%) (CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High sensitivity | ES: clinical trial.mp, pt. OR random:.mp. OR tu.xs. | 99.2 (98.7, 99.8) | 70.4 (69.8, 70.9) | 9.9 (9.3, 10.5) | 71.3 (70.8, 71.8) |
|  | R15: clinical trial.mp, pt. OR random:.mp. OR between group:.tw. | 98.5 (97.7, 99.3) | 76.3‡ (75.8, 76.8) | 11.9‡ (11.2, 12.7) | 77.0‡ (76.5, 77.4) |
|  | T2: clinical trial.mp, pt. OR exp longitudinal studies. | 96.8†(95.6, 97.9) | 84.1‡ (83.7, 84.6) | 16.6‡ (15.6, 17.6) | 84.5‡ (84.1, 84.9) |
High specificity | ES: randomized controlled trial.mp, pt. | 93.1 (91.5, 94.8) | 97.5 (97.3, 97.6) | 54.4 (52.0, 56.8) | 97.3 (97.1, 97.5) |
|  | R15: double-blind.mp. OR random: assigned.tw. | 47.1†(43.9, 50.3) | 98.8‡ (98.7, 99.0) | 57.0 (53.5, 60.5) | 97.2 (97.0, 97.4) |
|  | T2: double-blind:.mp. OR random: assigned.tw. | 53.4†(50.2, 56.7) | 98.4‡ (98.3, 98.6) | 52.7 (49.5, 55.8) | 97.0†(96.8, 97.2) |
Balanced combination of sensitivity | ES: randomized controlled trial.pt. OR randomized.mp. OR placebo.mp. | 95.8 (94.5, 97.1) | 95.0 (94.8, 95.3) | 38.5 (36.5, 40.5) | 95.0 (94.8, 95.3) |
|  | R15: randomized controlled trial.pt. OR random: assigned.tw. OR exp research design. | 95.2 (93.8, 96.5) | 94.6†(94.3, 94.8) | 36.3 (34.4, 38.2) | 94.6†(94.3, 94.8) |
|  | T2: randomized controlled trial.mp, pt. OR random: assigned.tw. OR blind:.mp. | 95.4 (94.0, 96.7) | 96.1‡ (95.9, 96.3) | 44.3‡ (42.2, 46.5) | 96.1‡ (95.8,96.3) |