Development and validation of search filters to identify articles on deprescribing in Medline and Embase

doi:10.1186/s12874-022-01515-x

. 2022 Mar 25;22(1):79.

doi: 10.1186/s12874-022-01515-x.

Development and validation of search filters to identify articles on deprescribing in Medline and Embase

Thomas Morel^{1

2}, Jérôme Nguyen-Soenen¹, Wade Thompson^{3

4}, Jean-Pascal Fournier^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Département de Médecine Générale, Faculté de Médecine, Nantes Université, Nantes, France.
² Inserm-University of Tours-University of Nantes, UMR U1246 Sphere "Methods in Patient-Centered Outcomes and Health Research", 37000, Tours, France.
³ Women's College Hospital Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Research Unit of General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
⁵ Département de Médecine Générale, Faculté de Médecine, Nantes Université, Nantes, France. jean-pascal.fournier@univ-nantes.fr.
⁶ Inserm-University of Tours-University of Nantes, UMR U1246 Sphere "Methods in Patient-Centered Outcomes and Health Research", 37000, Tours, France. jean-pascal.fournier@univ-nantes.fr.

PMID: 35337283
PMCID: PMC8953136
DOI: 10.1186/s12874-022-01515-x

Development and validation of search filters to identify articles on deprescribing in Medline and Embase

Thomas Morel et al. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2022.

. 2022 Mar 25;22(1):79.

doi: 10.1186/s12874-022-01515-x.

Authors

Thomas Morel^{1

2}, Jérôme Nguyen-Soenen¹, Wade Thompson^{3

4}, Jean-Pascal Fournier^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Département de Médecine Générale, Faculté de Médecine, Nantes Université, Nantes, France.
² Inserm-University of Tours-University of Nantes, UMR U1246 Sphere "Methods in Patient-Centered Outcomes and Health Research", 37000, Tours, France.
³ Women's College Hospital Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Research Unit of General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
⁵ Département de Médecine Générale, Faculté de Médecine, Nantes Université, Nantes, France. jean-pascal.fournier@univ-nantes.fr.
⁶ Inserm-University of Tours-University of Nantes, UMR U1246 Sphere "Methods in Patient-Centered Outcomes and Health Research", 37000, Tours, France. jean-pascal.fournier@univ-nantes.fr.

PMID: 35337283
PMCID: PMC8953136
DOI: 10.1186/s12874-022-01515-x

Abstract

Background: Deprescribing literature has been increasing rapidly. Our aim was to develop and validate search filters to identify articles on deprescribing in Medline via PubMed and in Embase via Embase.com .

Methods: Articles published from 2011 to 2020 in a core set of eight journals (covering fields of interest for deprescribing, such as geriatrics, pharmacology and primary care) formed a reference set. Each article was screened independently in duplicate and classified as relevant or non-relevant to deprescribing. Relevant terms were identified by term frequency analysis in a 70% subset of the reference set. Selected title and abstract terms, MeSH terms and Emtree terms were combined to develop two highly sensitive filters for Medline via Pubmed and Embase via Embase.com . The filters were validated against the remaining 30% of the reference set. Sensitivity, specificity and precision were calculated with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results: A total of 23,741 articles were aggregated in the reference set, and 224 were classified as relevant to deprescribing. A total of 34 terms and 4 MeSH terms were identified to develop the Medline search filter. A total of 27 terms and 6 Emtree terms were identified to develop the Embase search filter. The sensitivity was 92% (95% CI: 83-97%) in Medline via Pubmed and 91% (95% CI: 82-96%) in Embase via Embase.com .

Conclusions: These are the first deprescribing search filters that have been developed objectively and validated. These filters can be used in search strategies for future deprescribing reviews. Further prospective studies are needed to assess their effectiveness and efficiency when used in systematic reviews.

Keywords: Deprescriptions; Medical subject headings; Methods; Sensitivity; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Flowchart for the creation of the reference set

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

1. Scott IA, Hilmer SN, Reeve E, Potter K, Le Couteur D, Rigby D, et al. Reducing inappropriate polypharmacy: the process of deprescribing. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175(5):827–834. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.0324. - DOI - PubMed
1. Wastesson JW, Morin L, Tan ECK, Johnell K. An update on the clinical consequences of polypharmacy in older adults: a narrative review. Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2018;17(12):1185–1196. doi: 10.1080/14740338.2018.1546841. - DOI - PubMed
1. Gnjidic D, Reeve E. Deprescribing: what do we know, and where to next? Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2021;87(3):722–4. - PubMed
1. Reeve E, Gnjidic D, Long J, Hilmer S. A systematic review of the emerging definition of ‘deprescribing’ with network analysis: implications for future research and clinical practice. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2015;80(6):1254–1268. doi: 10.1111/bcp.12732. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Boghossian TA, Rashid FJ, Thompson W, Welch V, Moayyedi P, Rojas-Fernandez C, et al. Deprescribing versus continuation of chronic proton pump inhibitor use in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;3:CD011969. - PMC - PubMed

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[1] Scott IA, Hilmer SN, Reeve E, Potter K, Le Couteur D, Rigby D, et al. Reducing inappropriate polypharmacy: the process of deprescribing. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175(5):827–834. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.0324. - DOI - PubMed

[2] Scott IA, Hilmer SN, Reeve E, Potter K, Le Couteur D, Rigby D, et al. Reducing inappropriate polypharmacy: the process of deprescribing. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175(5):827–834. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.0324. - DOI - PubMed

[3] Wastesson JW, Morin L, Tan ECK, Johnell K. An update on the clinical consequences of polypharmacy in older adults: a narrative review. Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2018;17(12):1185–1196. doi: 10.1080/14740338.2018.1546841. - DOI - PubMed

[4] Wastesson JW, Morin L, Tan ECK, Johnell K. An update on the clinical consequences of polypharmacy in older adults: a narrative review. Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2018;17(12):1185–1196. doi: 10.1080/14740338.2018.1546841. - DOI - PubMed

[5] Gnjidic D, Reeve E. Deprescribing: what do we know, and where to next? Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2021;87(3):722–4. - PubMed

[6] Gnjidic D, Reeve E. Deprescribing: what do we know, and where to next? Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2021;87(3):722–4. - PubMed

[7] Reeve E, Gnjidic D, Long J, Hilmer S. A systematic review of the emerging definition of ‘deprescribing’ with network analysis: implications for future research and clinical practice. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2015;80(6):1254–1268. doi: 10.1111/bcp.12732. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Reeve E, Gnjidic D, Long J, Hilmer S. A systematic review of the emerging definition of ‘deprescribing’ with network analysis: implications for future research and clinical practice. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2015;80(6):1254–1268. doi: 10.1111/bcp.12732. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Boghossian TA, Rashid FJ, Thompson W, Welch V, Moayyedi P, Rojas-Fernandez C, et al. Deprescribing versus continuation of chronic proton pump inhibitor use in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;3:CD011969. - PMC - PubMed

[10] Boghossian TA, Rashid FJ, Thompson W, Welch V, Moayyedi P, Rojas-Fernandez C, et al. Deprescribing versus continuation of chronic proton pump inhibitor use in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;3:CD011969. - PMC - PubMed

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Development and validation of search filters to identify articles on deprescribing in Medline and Embase

Affiliations

Development and validation of search filters to identify articles on deprescribing in Medline and Embase

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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References

Publication types

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LinkOut - more resources

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