Mercer University School of Medicine Libraries DEVELOPING SEARCHING

Mercer University School of Medicine Libraries DEVELOPING & SEARCHING A POPULATION HEALTH QUESTION

FORMULATING A POPULATION HEALTH QUERY � Identify a health concern � Example: you are working in the East Georgia Healthcare Center in Swainsboro and notice that a lot of your patients have diabetes.

WHAT CAUSES DISEASE? � Why are there so many people in Emanuel County with diabetes?

WHAT CAUSES DISEASE? � How you conceptualize your topic affects how you search for relevant information. Consider the interaction and interdependenc eof various factors

WHAT CAUSES DISEASE? � Think about the wider context of your topic. � Do some preliminary exploration.

PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION � What percentage of the United States population is diagnosed with diabetes? � You will need to look for statistics.

PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION � To find health statistics, go to the libraries page at http: //med. mercer. edu/li brary and choose Health Statistics & Research from the pulldown menu. � Click on CDC: Diseases and Conditions

8. 4% OF ADULTS IN THE U. S AND 10% IN GEORGIA WERE DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES IN 2009

PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION � What percentage of people in Emanuel County have diabetes? � http: //www. cdc. gov/diabetes/atlas/countydata /atlas. html � Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Diabetes Public Health Resources, Diabetes Interactive Atlas, 2009 data

11. 2% OF ADULTS IN EMANUEL COUNTY WERE DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES IN 2009

IS YOUR TOPIC RESEARCHABLE? � Why do more adults in Emanuel County have diabetes than the national average? � If your topic is too narrow, it may prove difficult to find research � If your topic is too broad, it may be impossible to cope with the vast amount of literature on an unfocused topic

FOCUS YOUR RESEARCH WITH A PICO QUESTION. � What does PICO stand for? �P � stands for Population or Patient �I � stands for Intervention �C � stands for Comparison �O � stands for Outcome

FOCUS YOUR RESEARCH WITH A PICO QUESTION. � What Population do you want to research? � In this case, it is adults with diabetes.

FOCUS YOUR RESEARCH WITH A PICO QUESTION. � What would be an Intervention? � In this case, think about what might contribute to diabetes.

FOCUS YOUR RESEARCH WITH A PICO QUESTION. � Sometimes a Point-of-Care database with distilled information will help you focus. � Go to the Dynamed Database (found in the pulldown menu on the library page http: //med. mercer. edu/library)

EXPLORE A CONCEPT � What percentage of adults in the United States Smoke? � http: //apps. nccd. cdc. gov/statesystem/Interact ive. Report/Interactive. Reports. aspx � Centers for Disease Control, Smoking and Tobacco Use, Interactive Maps, 2010

19% OF ADULTS IN THE U. S & 17. 6% IN GEORGIA, 2010

EXPLORE A CONCEPT � What is the percentage of adults in Emanuel County smoke? � http: //www. countyhealthrankings. org/app/#/g eorgia/2013/measure/factors/9/map � County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, 2013

PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION � To find health statistics, go to the libraries page at http: //med. mercer. edu/li brary and choose Health Statistics & Research from the pulldown menu. � Click on CDC: Diseases and Conditions

23% OF ADULTS IN EMANUEL COUNTY SMOKE

FOCUS YOUR RESEARCH WITH A PICO QUESTION. � What is your Intervention? � In this case it would be smoking cessation � Is there a comparison? You don’t have to have one. � What is the Outcome you want? � In this case it would be improved health

FOCUS YOUR RESEARCH WITH A PICO QUESTION. � Your PICO question would be � In adults with Diabetes Mellitus, does smoking cessation result in improved health?

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � Go to the library webpage at � http: //med. mercer. edu/library and select Pub. Med from the pulldown menu.

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � You can type in keywords

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � If you want to narrow results, select MESH Databases

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � Type “Smoking Cessation”, select it, and add it to the search builder

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � Type “diabetes, ” select Diabetes Mellitus, and add it to the search builder

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � Click Search Pub. Med

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � View your results

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � To narrow further, you can filter your results

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � In this case limited to Randomized Controlled Trials

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � Click on the “Get It @ MUSM Medical Libraries” button to see if the libraries have a subscription/access so that full text is free to you.

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � � � If we don’t have a subscription, we can order the article for you from another library via Inter. Library Loan. Go to the libraries webpage at http: //med. mercer. edu/l ibrary and look for Inter. Library Loan under Services. It might arrive the same day, or it might take several days, depending on the library that owns it.

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � What do you do if you have too many results? � Think about your PICO. Do you need to refine and narrow your research? � What if you have too few results? � Think about your PICO. Do you need to refine and broaden your research?

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � If you are not getting many results, maybe you need to look in another database. � Try Google Scholar � Go to the library webpage at http: //med. mercer. edu/library and select Google Scholar from the pulldown menu.

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � You can refine your results by using the Advanced Search

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � You can look for all of the words, the exact phrase, a least one of the words, without the words, anywhere in the article, in the title of the article, by a specific author, or in a specific journal or a specific date.

SEARCHING THE LITERATURE � You can sort by relevance or by date. Click on “Get it @ MUSM Libraries” to see if the libraries have a subscription/access so that full text is free to you.

EXAMPLE POPULATION HEALTH QUESTIONS � � � Does involving the male partners of pregnant teens increase the uptake of prenatal care? Does eliminating vending machines in middle schools result in decreased student obesity in those schools? In a workplace with a mostly sedentary environment, do workplace ergonomic interventions result in increased workforce productivity? In women with HIV, do peer-based interventions reduce health inequities? In children and youth aged 5 to 17 years, what is the effect of regular and frequent physical activity at school on measures of learning performance or absenteeism? Are adults or children exposed to poor air quality at increased risk for impaired cognitive performance?

FOR ASSISTANCE � Macon: � reference. ill@gain. mercer. edu � 478. 301. 4056 � Savannah: � library@memorialhealth. com � 912. 350. 8345