Table 9.

Example: best specificity (keeping sensitivity ≥ 50%) search strategies for detecting treatment studies in geriatric medicine (patients ≥ 65 years of age) in Medline (1996 to July week 3, 2005)

Search Strategy*
Content Term	Boolean Operator	Best Specificity Combination Strategy for Treatment Studies	Boolean Operator	Best Specificity Combination Strategy for Geriatric Medicine	Number of Articles
Huntington disease	-	-	-	-	5907
Huntington disease	AND	Randomized controlled trial.mp. OR randomized controlled trial.pt.	-	-	46
Huntington disease	AND	Randomized controlled trial.mp. OR randomized controlled trial.pt.	AND	aged, 80 and over.sh. OR of age.tw.	5

^*Search strategies are reported using Ovid's search engine syntax for Medline. mp = multiple posting—term appears in title, abstract, or subject heading; pt = publication type; sh = subject heading; tw = textword (word or phrase appears in title or abstract).