Table 3 Combination of Terms with the Best Sensitivity (keeping Specificity ≥50%), Best Specificity (keeping Sensitivity ≥50%), and Best Optimization of Sensitivity and Specificity (based on abs [sensitivity-specificity]<1%) for Detecting Studies of Causation in EMBASE in 2000
Search Strategy OVID search* | Sensitivity (%) (n = 215) | Specificity (%) (n = 27,554) | Precision (%)‡ | Accuracy (%) (n = 27,769) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Best Sensitivity risk:.mp. OR exp methodology OR exp epidemiology | 91.6 (87.9 to 95.3) | 60.9 (60.3 to 61.4) | 1.8 (1.6 to 2.0) | 61.1 (60.5 to 61.7) |
Best Specificity cohort.tw. OR relative risk:.tw. | 53.0 (46.4 to 59.7) | 94.6 (94.4 to 94.9) | 7.1 (5.9 to 8.4) | 94.3 (94.0 to 94.6) |
Small decrease in best specificity with a substantive increase in sensitivity cohort.tw. OR relative risk:.tw. OR adjusted OR†.tw. | 61.4 (54.9 to 67.9) | 92.9 (92.6 to 93.2) | 6.3 (5.3 to 7.3) | 92.6 (92.3 to 92.9) |
Best Optimization of Sensitivity & Specificity risk.tw. OR mortalit:.tw. OR cohort.tw. | 81.9 (76.7 to 87.0) | 81.4 (80.9 to 81.8) | 3.3 (2.8 to 3.8) | 81.4 (80.9 to 81.8) |