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

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

Ovid MEDLINE

Ovid Training Team

2025-02-21

50 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 ‘MEDLINE’ (i.e. via PubMed) 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 (Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions [MeSH Terms] OR adverse drug reaction[Title/Abstract] OR "adverse effects”[Subheading] OR adverse[Title/Abstract] OR side effects[Title/Abstract] OR side effect[Title/Abstract] OR drug overdose[MeSH Terms] OR drug overdose[Title/Abstract] OR drug overdose*[Title/Abstract] OR drug misuse[MeSH Terms] OR drug misuse[Title/Abstract] OR misus*[Title/Abstract] OR "Substance-Related Disorders"[MeSH Terms] OR drug abuse[Title/Abstract] OR substance abuse[Title/Abstract] OR abus*[Title/Abstract] OR pregnancy[MeSH Terms] OR pregnancy[Title/Abstract] OR pregnan*[Title/Abstract] OR Pregnancy Complications[MeSH Terms] OR "Lactation"[MeSH Terms] OR "Breast Feeding"[MeSH Terms] OR ("milk, human"[MeSH Terms] AND "Bodily Secretions"[MeSH Terms]) OR "Fertility"[MeSH Terms] OR "Reproduction"[MeSH Terms] OR "Fetus"[MeSH Terms] OR "Embryonic Structures"[MeSH Terms] OR "Teratogens"[MeSH:NoExp] OR "Teratogenesis"[MeSH:NoExp] OR terato*[Title/Abstract] OR drug efficacy[Title/Abstract] OR "Substance Withdrawal Syndrome"[MeSH Terms] OR "Medication Errors"[MeSH Terms] OR "Death"[MeSH Terms] OR death*[Title/Abstract] OR "Fatal Outcome"[MeSH:NoExp] OR fatal*[Title/Abstract] OR "Drug Interactions"[MeSH Terms] OR Drug Interaction*[Title/Abstract] OR "Carcinogens"[MeSH:NoExp] OR carcinogen*[Title/Abstract] OR "Mutagens"[MeSH:NoExp] OR "Mutagenesis"[MeSH:NoExp] OR mutagen*[Title/Abstract] OR "Off-Label Use"[MeSH Terms] OR "Occupational Exposure"[MeSH Terms] OR "toxicity”[Subheading] OR toxic*[Title/Abstract] OR pharmacotox*[Title/Abstract] OR "Neurotoxicity Syndromes"[MeSH:NoExp] OR Neurotox*[Title/Abstract] OR "Cardiotoxicity"[MeSH:NoExp] OR Cardiotox*[Title/Abstract] OR nephrotox*[Title/Abstract] OR immunotox*[Title/Abstract] OR hepatotox*[Title/Abstract] OR cytotox*[Title/Abstract] OR "Cytotoxicity, Immunologic"[MeSH:NoExp] OR immunocytotox*[Title/Abstract] OR intoxication[Title/Abstract] OR "Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities"[MeSH Terms] OR "Treatment Failure"[MeSH Terms] OR "Case Reports”[Publication Type] OR case report*[Title/Abstract] OR "Environmental Exposure"[MeSH Terms] OR "Contraindications"[MeSH Terms] OR "Wounds and Injuries"[MeSH Terms] OR "Suicide"[MeSH:NoExp] OR suicide[Title/Abstract] OR "Poisoning"[MeSH Terms] OR "Drug Tolerance"[Majr] OR "Drug Resistance"[MeSH Terms] OR "Substance-Related Disorders"[MeSH Terms]) AND (inprocess[sb] OR medline[sb]) AND ("humans"[MeSH Terms] OR "humans"[All Fields] OR "human"[All Fields])

So that you can also use this search filter on Ovid, we have translated the PubMed syntax into Ovid MEDLINE 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 Ovid MEDLINE. 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 accompanying Focused Search, Search Blocks in Line Format (EMA AE Filter) – Ovid MEDLINE (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 “Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions”/ OR adverse drug reaction.ti,ab,kf. OR ae.xs OR adverse.ti,ab,kf. OR side effects.ti,ab,kf. OR side effect.ti,ab,kf. OR exp drug overdose/ OR drug overdose.ti,ab,kf. OR drug overdose*.ti,ab,kf. OR exp drug misuse/ OR drug misuse.ti,ab,kf. OR misus*.ti,ab,kf. OR exp Substance-Related Disorders/ OR drug abuse.ti,ab,kf. OR substance abuse.ti,ab,kf. OR abus*.ti,ab,kf. OR exp pregnancy/ OR pregnancy.ti,ab,kf. OR pregnan*.ti,ab,kf. OR exp Pregnancy Complications/ OR exp Lactation/ OR exp Breast Feeding/ OR (exp Milk, Human/ AND exp Bodily Secretions/) OR exp Fertility/ OR exp Reproduction/ OR exp Fetus/ OR exp Embryonic Structures/ OR Teratogens/ OR Teratogenesis/  OR terato*.ti,ab,kf. OR drug efficacy.ti,ab,kf. OR exp Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/ OR exp Medication Errors/ OR exp Death/ OR death*.ti,ab,kf. OR Fatal Outcome/ OR fatal*.ti,ab,kf. OR exp Drug Interactions/ OR Drug Interaction*.ti,ab,kf. OR Carcinogens/ OR carcinogen*.ti,ab,kf. OR Mutagens/ OR Mutagenesis/ OR mutagen*.ti,ab,kf. OR exp "Off-Label Use"/ OR exp Occupational Exposure/ OR to.fs OR toxic*.ti,ab,kf. OR pharmacotox*.ti,ab,kf. OR Neurotoxicity Syndromes/ OR Neurotox*.ti,ab,kf. OR Cardiotoxicity/ OR Cardiotox*.ti,ab,kf. OR nephrotox*.ti,ab,kf. OR immunotox*.ti,ab,kf. OR hepatotox*.ti,ab,kf. OR cytotox*.ti,ab,kf. OR Cytotoxicity, Immunologic/ OR immunocytotox*.ti,ab,kf. OR intoxication.ti,ab,kf. OR exp "Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities"/ OR exp Treatment Failure/ OR case reports.pt. OR case report*.ti,ab,kf. OR exp Environmental Exposure/ OR exp Contraindications/ OR exp "Wounds and Injuries"/ OR Suicide/ OR suicide.ti,ab,kf. OR exp Poisoning/ OR exp *drug tolerance/ OR exp Drug Resistance/ OR exp Substance-Related Disorders) AND (in process.st. or medline.st.) AND (exp "humans"/ OR "humans".af OR "human".af)

 

Launch Search

Reviewers

Primary: Michael Fanning

Secondary: Charlotte Viken

Review Date: 2025-02-21

Expiry Date: 2026-02-21

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
MEDLINE Search Strategies for Substance Groups 1-309, and Herbal Substance Groups 1-100
1 April 2024 EMA/130770/2024 Data Analytics and Methods Taskforce
https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/other/monitoring-medical-literature-entry-relevant-information-eudravigilance-database-european-medicines-agency-medline_en.pdf

Permissions: © European Medicines Agency, 2024. Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

OvidGO!
Supplementary Documentation
OG-FS_EMA_AE_Filter_SF_Translation_Ovid-MEDLINE_Suppl.Info.21.02.2025.pdf

Skills Videos
Translating a search from Pubmed into Ovid MEDLINE

 

Citation:

OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Search Blocks in Paragraph Format (EMA AE Filter) – Ovid MEDLINE (Part 1) [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2025 [updated 25 February 2025; cited 28 February 2025]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=85