Meeting a need: development and validation of PubMed search filters for immigrant populations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2024.1716Keywords:
Filter, filters, immigrant health, search strategy, filter development, hedge, hedgesAbstract
Objective: There is a need for additional comprehensive and validated filters to find relevant references more efficiently in the growing body of research on immigrant populations. Our goal was to create reliable search filters that direct librarians and researchers to pertinent studies indexed in PubMed about health topics specific to immigrant populations.
Methods: We applied a systematic and multi-step process that combined information from expert input, authoritative sources, automation, and manual review of sources. We established a focused scope and eligibility criteria, which we used to create the development and validation sets. We formed a term ranking system that resulted in the creation of two filters: an immigrant-specific and an immigrant-sensitive search filter.
Results: When tested against the validation set, the specific filter sensitivity was 88.09%, specificity 97.26%, precision 97.88%, and the NNR 1.02. The sensitive filter sensitivity was 97.76%when tested against the development set. The sensitive filter had a sensitivity of 97.14%, specificity of 82.05%, precision of 88.59%, accuracy of 90.94%, and NNR [See Table 1] of 1.13 when tested against the validation set.
Conclusion: We accomplished our goal of developing PubMed search filters to help researchers retrieve studies about immigrants. The specific and sensitive PubMed search filters give information professionals and researchers options to maximize the specificity and precision or increase the sensitivity of their search for relevant studies in PubMed. Both search filters generated strong performance measurements and can be used as-is, to capture a subset of immigrant-related literature, or adapted and revised to fit the unique research needs of specific project teams (e.g. remove US-centric language, add location-specific terminology, or expand the search strategy to include terms for the topic/s being investigated in the immigrant population identified by the filter). There is also a potential for teams to employ the search filter development process described here for their own topics and use.
References
Shommu NS, Ahmed S, Rumana N, Barron GR, McBrien KA, Turin TC. What is the scope of improving immigrant and ethnic minority healthcare using community navigators: A systematic scoping review. Int J Equity Health. 2016 Jan 15;15:6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26768130.
Chang CD. Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities Among Immigrants and their Children. Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2019 Jan;49(1):23-30. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30595524.
Lu Y, Denier N, Wang JS, Kaushal N. Unhealthy assimilation or persistent health advantage? A longitudinal analysis of immigrant health in the United States. Soc Sci Med. 2017 Dec;195:105-14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29172047.
Shishehgar S, Gholizadeh L, DiGiacomo M, Davidson PM. The impact of migration on the health status of Iranians: an integrative literature review. BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2015 Aug 15;15:20. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26275716.
Dropp K, Nyhan B. Nearly half of Americans don’t know Puerto Ricans are fellow citizens. The New York Times. 2017 26.
Campbell SM. A Filter to Retrieve Studies Related to Refugees/Immigrants from the OVID MEDLINE Database. John W. Scott Health Sciences Library, University of Alberta; 2020.
Ziegler D. Emigrant. Search Strategy Concepts Canadian Health Libraries Association, Quebec Chapter [Sept 11, 2014 cited]. https://extranet.santecom.qc.ca/wiki/!biblio3s/doku.php?id=concepts:emigrant.
Diaz E, Ortiz-Barreda G, Ben-Shlomo Y, Holdsworth M, Salami B, Rammohan A, Chung RY, Padmadas SS, Krafft T. Interventions to improve immigrant health. A scoping review. Eur J Public Health. 2017 Jun 1;27(3):433-9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28339883.
Roth S, Orozco R. MLA Latinx Caucus Latinx/Hispanic US Population Search Hedges [2021-07 cited]. https://scholarshare.temple.edu/handle/20.500.12613/6949.
Miller CH, Wescott A, Kubilius RK, Wafford QE. Development and Validation of a Search Filter in PubMed MEDLINE for Immigrant Health Disparities. Medical Library Association 119th Annual Meeting; May 3-8, 2019; Chicago, IL.
Loetscher KCQ, Selvin S, Zimmermann R, Abrams B. Ethnic-cultural background, maternal body size and pregnancy outcomes in a diverse Swiss cohort. Women & Health. 2007 45(2):25-40.
Boynton J, Glanville J, McDaid D, Lefebvre C. Identifying systematic reviews in MEDLINE: developing an objective approach to search strategy design. Journal of information science. 1998 24(3):137-54.
Damarell RA, Tieman J, Sladek RM, Davidson PM. Development of a heart failure filter for Medline: an objective approach using evidence-based clinical practice guidelines as an alternative to hand searching. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2011 Jan 28;11:12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21272371.
Golder S, Wright K, Loke YK. The development of search filters for adverse effects of surgical interventions in medline and Embase. Health Info Libr J. 2018 Jun;35(2):121-9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29603850.
Gosch F, Lux B, Buchberger B, editors. Development and validation of a search filter to retrieve publications on eHealth-project description. HEC 2016; 2016 28 August-2 September 2016; Munich, Germany PMC7088195.
Hausner E, Waffenschmidt S, Kaiser T, Simon M. Routine development of objectively derived search strategies. Syst Rev. 2012 Feb 29;1:19. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22587829.
Neilson C, Lê ML. A failed attempt at developing a search filter for systematic review methodology articles in Ovid Embase. J Med Libr Assoc. 2019 Apr;107(2):203-9.
Rietjens JA, Bramer WM, Geijteman EC, van der Heide A, Oldenmenger WH. Development and validation of search filters to find articles on palliative care in bibliographic databases. Palliat Med. 2019 Apr;33(4):470-4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30688143.
White VJ, Glanville JM, Lefebvre C, Sheldon TA. A statistical approach to designing search filters to find systematic reviews: objectivity enhances accuracy. Journal of information science. 2001 27(6):357-70.
Wilczynski NL, Lokker C, McKibbon KA, Hobson N, Haynes RB. Limits of search filter development. J Med Libr Assoc. 2016 Jan;104(1):42-6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26807051.
Li J, Lu Z. Developing topic-specific search filters for PubMed with click-through data. Methods Inf Med. 2013 52(5):395-402. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23666447.
Haynes RB, Wilczynski NL. Optimal search strategies for retrieving scientifically strong studies of diagnosis from Medline: analytical survey. BMJ. 2004 May 1;328(7447):1040. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15073027.
Brown L, Carne A, Bywood P, McIntyre E, Damarell R, Lawrence M, Tieman J. Facilitating access to evidence: Primary Health Care Search Filter. Health Info Libr J. 2014 Dec;31(4):293-302. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25411047.
Glanville J, Dooley G, Wisniewski S, Foxlee R, Noel-Storr A. Development of a search filter to identify reports of controlled clinical trials within CINAHL Plus. Health Info Libr J. 2019 Mar;36(1):73-90.
Jenkins M. Evaluation of methodological search filters--a review. Health Info Libr J. 2004 Sep;21(3):148-63. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15318913.
Rogers M, Bethel A, Boddy K. Development and testing of a medline search filter for identifying patient and public involvement in health research. Health Info Libr J. 2017 Jun;34(2):125-33. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28042699.
Sladek R, Tieman J, Fazekas BS, Abernethy AP, Currow DC. Development of a subject search filter to find information relevant to palliative care in the general medical literature. J Med Libr Assoc. 2006 Oct;94(4):394-401. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17082830.
Stewart F, Fraser C, Robertson C, Avenell A, Archibald D, Douglas F, Hoddinott P, van Teijlingen E, Boyers D. Are men difficult to find? Identifying male-specific studies in MEDLINE and Embase. Syst Rev. 2014 Jul 18;3:78. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25033713.
Terwee CB, Jansma EP, Riphagen, II, de Vet HC. Development of a methodological PubMed search filter for finding studies on measurement properties of measurement instruments. Qual Life Res. 2009 Oct;18(8):1115-23. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19711195.
Prady SL, Uphoff EP, Power M, Golder S. Development and validation of a search filter to identify equity-focused studies: reducing the number needed to screen. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2018 Oct 12;18(1):106. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30314471.
Glanville J, Bayliss S, Booth A, Dundar Y, Fernandes H, Fleeman ND, Foster L, Fraser C, Fry-Smith A, Golder S, Lefebvre C, Miller C, Paisley S, Payne L, Price A, Welch K. So many filters, so little time: the development of a search filter appraisal checklist. J Med Libr Assoc. 2008 Oct;96(4):356-61. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18974813.
Leclercq E, Leeflang MM, van Dalen EC, Kremer LC. Validation of search filters for identifying pediatric studies in PubMed. J Pediatr. 2013 Mar;162(3):629-34 e2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23084708.
Sladek RM, Tieman J, Currow DC. Improving search filter development: a study of palliative care literature. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2007 Jun 28;7:18. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17597549.
Ayiku L, Levay P, Hudson T, Craven J, Barrett E, Finnegan A, Adams R. The medline UK filter: development and validation of a geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK from OVID medline. Health Info Libr J. 2017 Sep;34(3):200-16. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28703418.
Davies BM, Goh S, Yi K, Kuhn I, Kotter MRN. Development and validation of a MEDLINE search filter/hedge for degenerative cervical myelopathy. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2018 Jul 6;18(1):73. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29976134.
Gill PJ, Roberts NW, Wang KY, Heneghan C. Development of a search filter for identifying studies completed in primary care. Fam Pract. 2014 Dec;31(6):739-45. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25326923.
Pols DH, Bramer WM, Bindels PJ, van de Laar FA, Bohnen AM. Development and Validation of Search Filters to Identify Articles on Family Medicine in Online Medical Databases. Ann Fam Med. 2015 Jul-Aug;13(4):364-6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26195683.
van Hoorn R, Kievit W, Booth A, Mozygemba K, Lysdahl KB, Refolo P, Sacchini D, Gerhardus A, van der Wilt GJ, Tummers M. The development of PubMed search strategies for patient preferences for treatment outcomes. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2016 Jul 29;16:88. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27473226.
Wessels M, Hielkema L, van der Weijden T. How to identify existing literature on patients' knowledge, views, and values: the development of a validated search filter. J Med Libr Assoc. 2016 Oct;104(4):320-4.
Johnson N, Tongbram V, Ndirangu K, Ogden K, Bay C. Development of a systematic review search filter to identify medication adherence studies. Value in Health. 2016 19(3):A72.
Pienaar E, Grobler L, Busgeeth K, Eisinga A, Siegfried N. Developing a geographic search filter to identify randomised controlled trials in Africa: finding the optimal balance between sensitivity and precision. Health Info Libr J. 2011 Sep;28(3):210-5.
Wafford QE, Miller CH, O’Dwyer LC. Validating the MEDLINE®/PubMed® Health Disparities and Minority Health Search Strategy. Spotlight: Race and Ethnicity. Medical Library Association 118th Annual Meeting; May 18-23, 2018; Atlanta, GA2018.
PubMed User Guide National Library of Medicine [cited]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/help/#phrase-index.
Ahmed S, Shammu N, Rumana N, Turin TC. Scoping study of communication barriers between physicians and immigrant patients. Canadian Family Physician. 2016 62(2):S51. https://www.embase.com/search/results?subaction=viewrecord&id=L617600685&from=export.
Aival-Naveh E, Rothschild-Yakar L, Kurman J. Keeping culture in mind: A systematic review and initial conceptualization of mentalizing from a cross-cultural perspective. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 2019 26(4):e12300. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cpsp.12300.
Al Shamsi H, Almutairi AG, Al Mashrafi S, Al Kalbani T. Implications of Language Barriers for Healthcare: A Systematic Review. Oman Med J. 2020 Mar;35(2):e122. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32411417.
Boylen S, Cherian S, Gill FJ, Leslie GD, Wilson S. Impact of professional interpreters on outcomes for hospitalized children from migrant and refugee families with limited English proficiency: a systematic review. JBI Evid Synth. 2020 Jul;18(7):1360-88. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32813387.
Chu X, Luo X, Chen Y. A systematic review on cross-cultural information systems research: Evidence from the last decade. Information & Management. 2019 2019/04/01/;56(3):403-17. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378720618303422.
Degrie L, Gastmans C, Mahieu L, Dierckx de Casterle B, Denier Y. "How do ethnic minority patients experience the intercultural care encounter in hospitals? a systematic review of qualitative research". BMC Med Ethics. 2017 Jan 19;18(1):2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28103849.
Fernandez-Gutierrez M, Bas-Sarmiento P, Albar-Marin MJ, Paloma-Castro O, Romero-Sanchez JM. Health literacy interventions for immigrant populations: a systematic review. Int Nurs Rev. 2018 Mar;65(1):54-64. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28449363.
Garcia ME, Ochoa-Frongia L, Moise N, Aguilera A, Fernandez A. Collaborative Care for Depression among Patients with Limited English Proficiency: a Systematic Review. J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Mar;33(3):347-57. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29256085.
Genoff MC, Zaballa A, Gany F, Gonzalez J, Ramirez J, Jewell ST, Diamond LC. Navigating Language Barriers: A Systematic Review of Patient Navigators' Impact on Cancer Screening for Limited English Proficient Patients. J Gen Intern Med. 2016 Apr;31(4):426-34. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26786875.
Gerchow L, Burka LR, Miner S, Squires A. Language barriers between nurses and patients: A scoping review. Patient Educ Couns. 2021 Mar;104(3):534-53. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32994104.
Govere L, Govere EM. How Effective is Cultural Competence Training of Healthcare Providers on Improving Patient Satisfaction of Minority Groups? A Systematic Review of Literature. Worldviews Evid Based Nurs. 2016 Dec;13(6):402-10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27779817.
Horvat L, Horey D, Romios P, Kis-Rigo J. Cultural competence education for health professionals. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 May 5;(5):CD009405. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24793445.
Iwelunmor J, Newsome V, Airhihenbuwa CO. Framing the impact of culture on health: a systematic review of the PEN-3 cultural model and its application in public health research and interventions. Ethn Health. 2014 Feb;19(1):20-46. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24266638.
Karliner LS, Jacobs EA, Chen AH, Mutha S. Do professional interpreters improve clinical care for patients with limited English proficiency? A systematic review of the literature. Health Serv Res. 2007 Apr;42(2):727-54. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17362215.
McCallum GB, Morris PS, Brown N, Chang AB. Culture-specific programs for children and adults from minority groups who have asthma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Aug 22;8(8):CD006580. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28828760.
Ohtani A, Suzuki T, Takeuchi H, Uchida H. Language Barriers and Access to Psychiatric Care: A Systematic Review. Psychiatr Serv. 2015 Aug 1;66(8):798-805. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25930043.
Taira BR, Kim K, Mody N. Hospital and Health System-Level Interventions to Improve Care for Limited English Proficiency Patients: A Systematic Review. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2019 Jun;45(6):446-58. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30910471.
Tay AK, Riley A, Islam R, Welton-Mitchell C, Duchesne B, Waters V, Varner A, Moussa B, Mahmudul Alam ANM, Elshazly MA, Silove D, Ventevogel P. The culture, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Rohingya refugees: a systematic review. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2019 Oct;28(5):489-94. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31006421.
Thonon F, Perrot S, Yergolkar AV, Rousset-Torrente O, Griffith JW, Chassany O, Duracinsky M. Electronic Tools to Bridge the Language Gap in Health Care for People Who Have Migrated: Systematic Review. J Med Internet Res. 2021 May 6;23(5):e25131. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33955837.
Truong M, Paradies Y, Priest N. Interventions to improve cultural competency in healthcare: a systematic review of reviews. BMC Health Serv Res. 2014 Mar 3;14:99. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24589335.
Schmidt C. PubMed Search Strategies [Internet]2009. Available from: http://pubmedsearches.blogspot.com/2009/07/underserved-keyword.html.
Koster J. PubMed PubReMiner [cited]. https://hgserver2.amc.nl/cgi-bin/miner/miner2.cgi.
Medicine NLo. MeSH Browser.
Carlock DM. Finding information on immigrant and refugee health. J Transcult Nurs. 2007 Oct;18(4):373-9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17977111.
Wafford QE, Miller CH, Wescott AB, Kubilius R. Immigrant Health PubMed Search Filters. DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center; 2022.
MEDLINE®/PubMed® Health Disparities and Minority Health Search Strategy. PubMed Special Queries [May 9, 2019 cited]. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/queries/health_disparities_details.html.
Qureshi R, Shaughnessy D, Gill KA, Robinson KA, Li T, Agai E. Are ChatGPT and large language models “the answer” to bringing us closer to systematic review automation? Systematic Reviews. 2023 12(1):72.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Q. Eileen Wafford, AHIP; Corinne H. Miller; Annie B. Wescott; Ramune K. Kubilius, AHIP
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
