Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72093
If the search yield is overwhelming, narrow the search by getting more specific; for example, specify that the term massage must be in the title or abstract. craniosacral therapy, lymphatic drainage, and reflexology. Test search terms to see if the information you seek is specifically available, or if more general searches are required. It is helpful to see how PubMed defines the terms we wish to search to ensure the net we cast is going to adequately capture the studies we are interested in. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a comprehensive, controlled vocabulary for the purpose of indexing articles, and acts like a thesaurus when searching the database. On the PubMed homepage, click on "MeSH Database" under More Resources on the right side of the page. In the search bar, enter the term you wish to define. The term massage identifies two groups of terms. Heart massage refers to massage performed directly on the heart during open-heart surgery. Click on "Massage" to view the subheadings, entry terms, and subject tree included in every MeSH search of the word massage. For my search, I chose to use the general term massage. Pain, on the other hand, yields 54 groups of terms in the MeSH classification system. After looking at the expansive definitions for pain, I decided to narrow my search to chronic pain. SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS Once you've identified your search terms, I recommend limiting your initial search to research reviews. Systematic reviews can help practitioners keep abreast of the medical literature by summarizing large bodies of evidence and helping to explain differences among studies on the same question.10 The primary objective of a research review is to draw conclusions useful for clinical practice and policy-making, and identify future directions for research.11 Systematic reviews are a critical component of evidence- based health care, a topic often discussed in this column. In order for evidence to better inform practice, there must be consensus across a wide range of studies, rather than basing clinical decisions on the results of a single study. A systematic review can identify if sufficient research exists on a particular topic, evaluate if the body of research meets quality standards, and determine if cross-study consensus is sufficient to draw meaningful conclusions. It can also identify gaps in the evidence that can then be used to inform future studies. To specify "Review" in your search, perform the following: 1. On the home page of PubMed, click on "Limits" directly under the search bar. 2. Under Type of Article, check the box "Review." 3. You may wish to also select "Humans" under Species if you wish to only read reviews of human trials. 4. You may also wish to select "English" under Languages if you want to limit your search to research written in English. 5. Type in your search terms in the search bar at the top of the page (for example, massage and chronic pain). 6. Click on "Search" near the bottom of the page. The articles listed will all be reviews of research, summarizing studies that have been conducted on this topic and that meet the criteria for the research question expressed in the title of the review. Read the abstracts, if available, to see if the reviews match your area of interest. If so, and the full-text article is freely available, read it critically to see if it meets your needs and can be used to market your skills and convince referring caregivers of the benefits of massage therapy for pain management. My search for "massage and chronic pain" yielded 76 results. This was more than I was willing to investigate, so I narrowed my search even further and typed "massage and fibromyalgia" into the search bar. That search yielded 17 reviews. Only one review mentioned massage therapy in the title,12 and one focused on myofascial techniques.13 Neither article was available for a free download. This didn't satisfy my search. It was time to look for clinical trials to further support and inform my cause. 50 massage & bodywork may/june 2012