Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-4-10
pubmed:abstractText
The available tools for searching literature in the field of Molecular Epidemiology are largely unsatisfactory. To identify major problems in retrieving information on this discipline, we comment here on the results of a literature search on cytogenetic biomarkers in children exposed to environmental pollutants. The search, done on the PubMed/MedLine database, was based on a strategy combining descriptors listed in the PubMed Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) Thesaurus and other available tools (free text or phrase search tools). 178 articles were retrieved by searching the period from January 1, 1980 to November 30, 2004. Only 2 of the 178 articles were indexed by the MeSH term "Epidemiology, molecular" (introduced in 1994) and 30 of 178 by the MeSH term "Biological markers" (introduced in 1989). The case of chromosome aberration (CA) was emblematic of the problem: 44 of 78 articles (56.4%) were not pertinent to the search. The reasons for this poor performance are reported and discussed. Authors and indexers may be able to improve the efficiency of article retrieval in the field of molecular epidemiology by using relevant terms in the title and abstract. This may suggest appropriate MeSH terms to the indexers for the indexing process. As regards the difficulty in identifying population studies using CA, the introduction of a specific MeSH term for chromosome aberrations when used as a biomarker would improve the search process.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0893-6692
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
Copyright (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
47
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
227-9
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-11-19
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Searching PubMed for molecular epidemiology studies: the case of chromosome aberrations.
pubmed:affiliation
Dipartimento di Oncologia, Biologia e Genetica, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. donatella.ugolini@istge.it
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't