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Search Blocks in Paragraph Format (EMA AE Filter) – Embase (Part 1)

How to incorporate a search filter from an external, third-party source into your own Ovid search libraries and documents (Part 1).

Embase

Ovid Training Team

2024-05-08

58 visits

Background

One of the main drivers behind the OvidGO! / Focused Searches project is to make searches, and especially search filters, discoverable, actionable and useable. Search filters, searches designed to achieve a specific outcome, are particularly challenging. On the one hand they are spread across a large variety of publication vehicles, e.g. journal articles, systematic reviews, websites etc.. A consequence being that many of them are “locked” in analogue formats, most notably print. On the other hand, the role and value of search strategies, filters or otherwise, as the informational foundation of systematic reviews is understated. And as a result, problematic.

An analysis of critically assessed systematic reviews using the KSR Evidence database (also available on Ovid), demonstrates – dramatically – that a large number of currently available systematic reviews have to be marked as having a high risk of bias because they have not at all, or only partially, reported on the search strategies employed for their construction. Ovid’s search strategy construction and sharing functionality, used purposefully and systematically, can help remedy this situation.  

Taking as its reference the Adverse Events (AE) filter published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), this Focused Search provides an example of what is meant by making search filters, discoverable, actionable and useable.

As part of its pharmacovigilance obligations and activities the EMA is mandated to keep a watching brief over some 300 substance groups and 100 herbal substance groups. Specifically, to monitor medical literature and enter relevant information into the EudraVigilance database. This the EMA does by running search strategies on EMBASE (Embase.com) that combine (a). a comprehensive list of terms describing the target drug or herbal substances, together with (b). an extensive list of terms and phrases that refer to adverse events in a variety of ways. The list of substances and the AE filter used is available from the EMA and is published and updated regularly. A link to the published document is given below.

The current version of the AE filter, displayed below, can be found on page 13.

AND ('adverse drug reaction'/exp OR adverse:de,ab,ti OR 'side effect':de,ab,ti OR 'side effects':de,ab,ti OR 'side effect':lnk OR 'drug overdose'/exp OR overdos*:de,ab,ti OR 'drug misuse'/exp OR misus*:de,ab,ti OR 'drug abuse'/exp OR 'substance abuse'/exp OR abus*:de,ab,ti OR 'pregnancy'/exp OR pregnan*:de,ab,ti OR 'pregnancy complications'/exp OR 'lactation'/exp OR 'breast feeding'/exp OR ('milk human'/exp AND 'secretion'/exp) OR 'fertility'/exp OR 'reproduction'/exp OR 'fetus'/exp OR 'embryo'/exp OR terat*:de,ab,ti OR 'drug efficacy'/exp OR 'drug withdrawal'/exp OR 'medication error'/exp OR 'death'/exp OR death*:de,ab,ti OR fatal*:de,ab,ti OR 'drug interactions'/exp OR 'drug interaction'/exp OR 'carcinogenicity'/exp OR carcinogen*:de,ab,ti OR mutagen*:de,ab,ti OR 'off label drug use'/exp OR 'occupational exposure'/exp OR 'toxicity'/exp OR toxic*:de,ab,ti OR pharmacotox*:de,ab,ti OR neurotox*:de,ab,ti OR cardiotox*:de,ab,ti OR nephrotox*:de,ab,ti OR immunotox*:de,ab,ti OR hepatotox*:de,ab,ti OR cytotox*:de,ab,ti OR immunocytotox*:de,ab,ti OR 'intoxication'/exp OR 'congenital disorder'/exp OR 'drug treatment failure'/exp OR 'case report'/exp OR 'case reports':de,ab,ti OR 'environmental exposure'/exp OR 'treatment contraindication'/exp OR 'drug contraindication'/exp OR 'injury'/exp OR suicide:de,ab,ti OR 'poisoning'/exp OR 'drug tolerance'/exp/mj OR 'treatment failure'/exp/mj OR 'drug resistance'/exp/mj OR 'substance-related disorders'/exp OR 'treatment failure'/exp OR 'drug resistance'/exp OR 'drug resistance':lnk) AND [humans]/lim

So that you can also use this search filter on Ovid, we have translated the Embase.com syntax into Embase on Ovid syntax. Availing of the ABC format options behind Focused Searches, you can display the Ovid rendered version by clicking on ACTIONS / Display. Alternatively, ACTIONS / Launch will run the filter in Embase on Ovid. If you would like to talk to a member of the Ovid Training Team about the filter, select ACTIONS / Ovid Coaching. Once in the database you can combine the filter with substances relevant to your investigation. You can also save the filter in My Workspace for re-use as part of your own or institutional library of searches and search blocks. 

The next Focused Search, Search Blocks in Line Format (EMA AE Filter) – Embase (Part 2), will consider the relative merits of this filter in its paragraph format vis-à-vis a line-by-line format.  

Search Stategy

exp adverse drug reaction/ OR adverse.hw,ab,ti. OR side effect.hw,ab,ti. OR side effects.hw,ab,ti. OR side effect.fs. OR exp drug overdose/ OR overdos*.hw,ab,ti. OR exp drug misuse/ OR misus*.hw,ab,ti. OR exp drug abuse/ OR exp substance abuse/ OR abus*.hw,ab,ti. OR exp pregnancy/ OR pregnan*.hw,ab,ti. OR exp pregnancy complications/ OR exp lactation/ OR exp breast feeding/ OR (exp milk human/ and exp secretion/) OR exp fertility/ OR exp reproduction/ OR exp fetus/ OR exp embryo/ OR terat*.hw,ab,ti. OR exp drug efficacy/ OR exp drug withdrawal/ OR exp medication error/ OR exp death/ OR death*.hw,ab,ti. OR fatal*.hw,ab,ti. OR exp drug interaction/ OR exp drug interaction/ OR exp carcinogenicity/ OR carcinogen*.hw,ab,ti. OR mutagen*.hw,ab,ti. OR exp 'off label drug use'/ OR exp occupational exposure/ OR exp toxicity/ OR toxic*.hw,ab,ti. OR pharmacotox*.hw,ab,ti. OR neurotox*.hw,ab,ti. OR cardiotox*.hw,ab,ti. OR nephrotox*.hw,ab,ti. OR immunotox*.hw,ab,ti. OR hepatotox*.hw,ab,ti. OR cytotox*.hw,ab,ti. OR immunocytotox*.hw,ab,ti. OR exp intoxication/ OR exp congenital disorder/ OR exp drug treatment failure/ OR exp case report/ OR case reports.hw,ab,ti. OR exp environmental exposure/ OR exp treatment contraindication/ OR exp drug contraindication/ OR exp injury/ OR suicide.hw,ab,ti. OR exp poisoning/ OR exp *drug tolerance/ OR exp *treatment failure/ OR exp *drug resistance/ OR exp substance-related disorders/ OR exp treatment failure/ OR exp drug resistance/ OR drug resistance.fs.

Launch Search

Reviewers

Primary: Michael Fanning

Secondary: Yvonne van der Vrede

Review Date: 2024-05-08

Expiry Date: 2025-05-08

Original search produced by:

Ovid Training Team

References:

Monitoring of medical literature and the entry of relevant information into the EudraVigilance database by the European Medicines Agency.
EMBASE Search Strategies for Substance Groups 1-309, and Herbal Substance Groups 1-100
1 April 2024 EMA/517840/2015 Rev 5* Data Analytics and Methods Taskforce
https://www.ema.europa.eu/system/files/documents/other/mlm-search-strategies-april-2024-embase_en.pdf
Note on Permissions: © European Medicines Agency, 2024. Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

OvidGO!
Focused Searches - Supplementary Documentation - Example 11
Search Filter Translation from Embase.com to Embase on Ovid, Version: 22nd April 2024

Skills Videos
Translating a search from Pubmed into Ovid MEDLINE
 

Citation:

Ovid Customer Support, Search Blocks in Paragraph Format (EMA AE Filter) – Embase (Part 1), OvidGO! / Focused Searches Portal, Version: 8th May 2024. Visited: < Insert Date >.