Recall, precision, and coverage of literature searches in systematic reviews in occupational medicine: an overview of Cochrane Reviews

Abstract

Background: Most of relevant studies for a systematic review are identified via electronic searches of biomedical databases, of which MEDLINE is arguably the most important. As search strategies may vary in complexity and yield, we aimed to assess MEDLINE search strategies regarding their recall, precision, and coverage in a sample of Cochrane Reviews in occupational medicine.Methods: Overall, we replicated and analysed search strategies of ochrane Reviews published between 2001 and 2017. Results: We found a median precision of 1.5% and a median recall of 83% which may act as benchmarks for a MEDLINE search strategy in systematic reviews in occupational medicine.Conclusion: These benchmarks for reviews in occupational medicine may help to find a balance between recall and precision of search strategies. They will be helpful for researchers to plan their work load required for reviews.

Keywords

• systematic reviews
• literature search
• recall
• precision
• coverage
• occupational medicine