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OT 634: Research and Evidence in Clinical Practice

Searching Exercise

Let's start with the example situation from your CAP assignment. 

Situation example: I am an occupational therapist who works with people with multiple sclerosis (P) in a community setting. I
find that my clients tend to experience low self-esteem associated with their diagnosis. My goal for developing a CAP is to
analyze the efficacy of occupation-based interventions (I) [compared to standard community interventions (C)] to address low
self-esteem (O) in individuals with multiple sclerosis.

First, let's figure out some useful search terms. Then, let's search for literature and answer the following questions in the OT 634 Research Exercise Google Doc Spreadsheet.

(Don't feel the need to use complete sentences...bullet points are fine!!)

  • Note your search strategy to find OT-relevant literature
  • What are some ways that you can narrow your results?
  • How can you limit your search to only certain populations (e.g. women or people over 65)?
  • List one article that you found that seems useful/relevant for OTs:
  • Can you access the full text of the article?
  • Does this database have any features that help you find other potentially relevant articles (e.g a "cited by" feature, or subject headings/descriptors, or "related articles" links)?
  • Anything else to know about PubMed?

Key Database: PubMed

PubMed is your go-to source for searching the medical literature. Bookmark this link to access PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?otool=wacmllib  

PubMed is available to anyone, but not all articles found through undefinedPubMed are openly accessible. By using this link, you will be shown a small blue and white 'Check for full text' button on article results pages which will connect you back to the University of Puget Sound to check for full-text access through Collins Library! Keep an eye out for that 'check for full text' button.

Key Database: CINAHL

CINAHL, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, covers a wide range of topics including nursing, biomedicine, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and various allied health disciplines. There is some overlap with PubMed, but some unique content as well. In addition to scholarly articles, contains trade publications and general interest magazines as well. 

Multidisciplinary Databases

Consider searching also our broad 'aggregator' databases which contain scholarly literature AND popular materials (magazines, newspapers, etc) from a wide array of fields. These resources aren't as tightly focused as the subject-specific databases, but may contain useful sources not included in those of smaller scope.  The two largest such databases are listed below. Be sure to use the filters to limit only to scholarly or peer-reviewed sources!

Additional Subject Databases

Google Scholar

Consider searching also our broad 'aggregator' databases which contain scholarly literature AND popular materials (magazines, newspapers, etc) from a wide array of fields. These resources aren't as tightly focused as the subject-specific databases, but may contain useful sources not included in those of smaller scope.  The two largest such databases are listed below. Be sure to use the filters to limit only to scholarly or peer-reviewed sources!

Google Scholar Cited Reference Search

One very useful feature of Google Scholar is its ability to allow for easily finding subsequent articles which have cited a particular article that you have located. 

Step 1: When looking at search results, check for the 'Cited by X' link underneath each result. That will tell you how many subsequent articles (that Google Scholar is aware of...it's not 100% comprehensive! This is a ballpark figure) have cited this particular article.

  • Step 2: Click that link, and you will be taken to a new set of results, all of which have cited the original article, which will still be listed at the top of the page.