CENTRAL	PubMed	EMBASE (Ovid)
# 1 OTITIS MEDIA WITH EFFUSION single term (MeSH) # 2 glue ear # 3 otitis media NEAR effusion* or middle ear NEAR effusion* # 4 eustachian tube NEAR effusion* OR eustachian tube NEAR dysfunction* # 5 nonsuppurative otitis OR non suppurative otitis # 6 tympanitis OR serous otitis OR secretory otitis OR otitis serosa.TI,AB. # 7 mucoid NEAR otitis OR mucous NEAR otitis OR seromucoid NEAR otitis # 8 mucoid NEAR middle ear OR mucous NEAR middle ear OR seromucoid NEAR middle ear # 9 adhesive NEAR otitis OR exudative NEAR otitis # 10 #1 OR #2 OR #3 OR #4 OR #5 OR #6 OR #7 OR #8 OR #9 # 11 STEROIDS explode all trees (MeSH) # 12 HYDROXYCORTICOSTEROIDS explode all trees (MeSH) # 13 GLUCOCORTICOIDS explode all trees (MeSH) # 14 ANTI‐INFLAMMATORY AGENTS STEROIDS explode all trees (MeSH) # 15 GLUCOCORTICOSTEROIDS SYNTHETIC explode all trees (MeSH) # 16 steroid* OR corticosteroid* or glucocorticoid* # 17 beclomethasone OR betamethasone # 18 budesonide # 19 cortisone # 20 dexamethasone # 21 flunisolide # 22 fluticasone # 23 fludrocortisone # 24 hydrocortisone OR cortisol # 25 methylprednisolone # 26 mometasone # 27 prednisolone # 28 prednisone # 29 triamcinolone # 30 #11 OR #12 OR #13 OR #14 OR #15 OR #16 OR #17 OR #18 OR #19 OR #20 OR #21 OR #22 OR #23 OR #24 OR #25 OR #26 OR #27 OR #28 OR #29 # 31 #10 AND #30	#1 "OTITIS MEDIA WITH EFFUSION" [Mesh] #2 "glue ear" [tiab] OR ("otitis media" [tiab] AND effusion* [tiab]) OR ("middle ear" [tiab] AND effusion* [tiab]) OR ("eustachian tube" [tiab] AND effusion [tiab]) OR ("Eustachian tube" [tiab] AND dysfunction* [tiab]) OR "nonsuppurative otitis" [tiab] OR "non suppurrative otitis" [tiab] OR tympanitis [tiab] OR "serous otitis" [tiab] OR "secretory otitis" [tiab] OR "otitis serosa" [tiab] OR (mucoid [tiab] AND otitis [tiab]) OR (mucous [tiab] AND otitis [tiab]) OR (seromucoid [tiab] AND otitis [tiab]) OR (mucoid [tiab] AND "middle ear" [tiab] OR (mucous [tiab] AND "middle ear" [tiab]) OR (seromucoid [tiab] AND middle [tiab]) #3 #1 OR #2 #4 "STEROIDS" [Mesh] OR "HYDROXYCORTICOSTEROIDS" [Mesh] OR "GLUCOCORTICOIDS" [Mesh] OR "ANTI‐INFLAMMATORY AGENTS STEROIDS" [Mesh] OR "GLUCOCORTICOSTEROIDS SYNTHETIC" [Mesh] #5 steroid* [tiab] OR corticosteroid* [tiab] OR glucocorticoid* [tiab] OR beclomethasone [tiab] OR betamethasone [tiab] OR budesonide [tiab] OR cortisone [tiab] OR dexamethasone [tiab] OR flunisolide [tiab] OR fluticasone [tiab] OR fludrocortisone [tiab] OR hydrocortisone [tiab] OR cortisol [tiab] OR methylprednisolone [tiab] OR mometasone [tiab] OR prednisolone [tiab] OR prednisone [tiab] OR triamcinolone [tiab] #6 #4 OR #5 #7 #3 AND #6	1 mucoid otitis media/ 2 ((glue adj ear) or ((otitis adj media) and effusion*) or ((middle adj ear) and effusion*) or ((eustachian adj tube) and effusion) or ((Eustachian adj tube) and dysfunction*) or (nonsuppurative adj otitis) or (non adj suppurrative adj otitis) or tympanitis or (serous adj otitis) or (secretory adj otitis) or (otitis adj serosa) or (mucoid and otitis) or (mucous and otitis) or (seromucoid and otitis) or ((mucoid and middle) adj ear) or ((mucous and middle) adj ear) or (seromucoid and middle)).tw. 3 secretory otitis media/ or serous otitis media/ 4 1 or 3 or 2 5 exp CORTICOSTEROID/ 6 (steroid* or corticosteroid* or glucocorticoid* or beclomethasone or betamethasone or budesonide or cortisone or dexamethasone or flunisolide or fluticasone or fludrocortisone or hydrocortisone or cortisol or methylprednisolone or mometasone or prednisolone or prednisone or triamcinolone).tw. 7 6 or 5 8 4 and 7
Web of Science	BIOSIS Previews/ CAB Abstracts (Ovid)	CINAHL
#1 TS=((glue adj ear) or ((otitis adj media) and effusion*) or ((middle adj ear) and effusion*) or ((eustachian adj tube) and effusion) or ((Eustachian adj tube) and dysfunction*) or (nonsuppurative adj otitis) or (non adj suppurrative adj otitis) or tympanitis or (serous adj otitis) or (secretory adj otitis) or (otitis adj serosa) or (mucoid and otitis) or (mucous and otitis) or (seromucoid and otitis) or ((mucoid and middle) adj ear) or ((mucous and middle) adj ear) or (seromucoid and middle)) #2 TS=(steroid* or corticosteroid* or glucocorticoid* or beclomethasone or betamethasone or budesonide or cortisone or dexamethasone or flunisolide or fluticasone or fludrocortisone or hydrocortisone or cortisol or methylprednisolone or mometasone or prednisolone or prednisone or triamcinolone) #3 #1 AND #2	1 ((glue adj ear) or ((otitis adj media) and effusion*) or ((middle adj ear) and effusion*) or ((eustachian adj tube) and effusion) or ((Eustachian adj tube) and dysfunction*) or (nonsuppurative adj otitis) or (non adj suppurrative adj otitis) or tympanitis or (serous adj otitis) or (secretory adj otitis) or (otitis adj serosa) or (mucoid and otitis) or (mucous and otitis) or (seromucoid and otitis) or ((mucoid and middle) adj ear) or ((mucous and middle) adj ear) or (seromucoid and middle)).tw. 2 (steroid* or corticosteroid* or glucocorticoid* or beclomethasone or betamethasone or budesonide or cortisone or dexamethasone or flunisolide or fluticasone or fludrocortisone or hydrocortisone or cortisol or methylprednisolone or mometasone or prednisolone or prednisone or triamcinolone).tw.	S1 (MH "Otitis Media with Effusion") S2 TX glue AND ear S3 TX ( middle OR otitis OR eustachian ) and TX ( effusion OR serous OR secretory OR nonsuppurative OR mucoid ) S4 S1 or S2 or S3 S5 TX steroid* or corticosteroid* or glucocorticoid* or beclomethasone or betamethasone or budesonide or cortisone or dexamethasone or flunisolide or fluticasone or fludrocortisone or hydrocortisone or cortisol or methylprednisolone or mometasone or prednisolone or prednisone or triamcinolone S6 (MH "Steroids") OR (MH " GLUCOCORTICOIDS") S7 S5 or S6 S8 S4 and S7