Abstract
Objectives: Despite the growing use of online databases by clinicians, there has been very little research documenting how effectively they are used. This study assessed the ability of medical and nurse-practitioner students to answer clinical questions using an information retrieval system. It also attempted to identify the demographic, experience, cognitive, personality, search mechanics, and user-satisfaction factors associated with successful use of a retrieval system. Methods: Twenty-nine students completed questionnaires of clinical and computer experience as well as tests of cognitive abilities and personality type. They were then administered three clinical questions to answer in a medical library setting using the MEDLINE database and electronic and print full-text resources. Results: Medical students were able to answer more questions correctly than nurse-practitioner students before and after searching, but both had comparable improvements in the number of correct questions before and after searching. Successful ability to answer questions was also associated with having experience in literature searching and higher standardized test-score percentiles. Conclusions: Medical and nurse-practitioner students obtained comparable benefits in the ability to answer clinical questions from use of the information retrieval system. Future research must examine strategies that improve successful search and retrieval of clinical questions posed by clinicians in practice.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 323-331 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Bulletin of the Medical Library Association |
| Volume | 88 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| State | Published - 2000 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health Informatics
- Library and Information Sciences
Cite this
Factors associated with successful answering of clinical questions using an information retrieval system. / Hersh, William (Bill); Crabtree, M. K.; Hickam, D. H.; Sacherek, L.; Rose, L.; Friedman, C. P.
In: Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, Vol. 88, No. 4, 2000, p. 323-331.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Factors associated with successful answering of clinical questions using an information retrieval system
AU - Hersh, William (Bill)
AU - Crabtree, M. K.
AU - Hickam, D. H.
AU - Sacherek, L.
AU - Rose, L.
AU - Friedman, C. P.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - Objectives: Despite the growing use of online databases by clinicians, there has been very little research documenting how effectively they are used. This study assessed the ability of medical and nurse-practitioner students to answer clinical questions using an information retrieval system. It also attempted to identify the demographic, experience, cognitive, personality, search mechanics, and user-satisfaction factors associated with successful use of a retrieval system. Methods: Twenty-nine students completed questionnaires of clinical and computer experience as well as tests of cognitive abilities and personality type. They were then administered three clinical questions to answer in a medical library setting using the MEDLINE database and electronic and print full-text resources. Results: Medical students were able to answer more questions correctly than nurse-practitioner students before and after searching, but both had comparable improvements in the number of correct questions before and after searching. Successful ability to answer questions was also associated with having experience in literature searching and higher standardized test-score percentiles. Conclusions: Medical and nurse-practitioner students obtained comparable benefits in the ability to answer clinical questions from use of the information retrieval system. Future research must examine strategies that improve successful search and retrieval of clinical questions posed by clinicians in practice.
AB - Objectives: Despite the growing use of online databases by clinicians, there has been very little research documenting how effectively they are used. This study assessed the ability of medical and nurse-practitioner students to answer clinical questions using an information retrieval system. It also attempted to identify the demographic, experience, cognitive, personality, search mechanics, and user-satisfaction factors associated with successful use of a retrieval system. Methods: Twenty-nine students completed questionnaires of clinical and computer experience as well as tests of cognitive abilities and personality type. They were then administered three clinical questions to answer in a medical library setting using the MEDLINE database and electronic and print full-text resources. Results: Medical students were able to answer more questions correctly than nurse-practitioner students before and after searching, but both had comparable improvements in the number of correct questions before and after searching. Successful ability to answer questions was also associated with having experience in literature searching and higher standardized test-score percentiles. Conclusions: Medical and nurse-practitioner students obtained comparable benefits in the ability to answer clinical questions from use of the information retrieval system. Future research must examine strategies that improve successful search and retrieval of clinical questions posed by clinicians in practice.
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M3 - Article
VL - 88
SP - 323
EP - 331
JO - Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA
JF - Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA
SN - 1536-5050
IS - 4
ER -