Table 4

Total number & percentage of journals indexed by database

Database

N of Journals Indexed

% of total

Incremental n of journals indexed¹

Cumulative % of journals indexed

N of zone 1 & 2 journals indexed (of 28)

%

Cumulative % of trials accounted for²

Medline

287

93.2

287

93.2

28

100.0

97.7

Embase

130

42.2

10

96.4

24

85.7

98.8

CAB Health

180

58.4

6

98.4

26

92.3

99.4

CINAHL

36

11.7

3

99.4

7

25.0

99.8

AMED

14

4.5

2

100.0

4

14.3

100.0

CCTR

112

36.4

0

-

18

64.3

-

IBIDS

31

10.1

0

-

16

57.1

-

NCCAM

13

4.2

0

-

5

17.9

-

MANTIS

11

3.6

0

-

3

10.7

-

AGRICOLA

1

0.3

0

-

1

3.6

-

Total

308

100

100

¹ The incremental percentage column shows the increase in number of additional journals identified, with each additional database search. For example, searching the CAB Health database, given that the Medline and Embase databases had already been searched, would yield relevant reports of RCTs from six additional journals. Databases are listed in order of the number of journals indexed that were not indexed by databases already considered, thus providing a clearer picture of the cumulative coverage if databases were searched in the order listed, which is the most efficient order for this collection. The cumulative % column shows the percent of journals that published reports of pediatric CAM RCTs that would be covered by searching the databases in the order listed. ²This figure assumes that all trials published in that journal were indexed in the database. The actual indexing rate may be less than 100%, and the indexing status of each report of an RCT in each database was not verified.

Sampson et al. BMC Pediatrics 2003 3:1   doi:10.1186/1471-2431-3-1