2.4.5.1 Health-related databases
- Carolyn Phillips
Selection of the databases to be searched depends on the review topic. Table 2 lists the major healthcare-related databases, but please note, this list is not exhaustive. Each database varies in subject scope, type of resources indexed, and years covered. Most databases are provided by commercial publishers or vendors and come with differing online platforms and searching features. Reviewers should contact their librarian colleagues to determine the available options licensed at their institutions.
Table 2: Common health databases
Name and Years Covered | Description | Possible vendors / interface / platform |
MEDLINE 1946 – present | Broad coverage bibliographic database covering the life sciences, medicine, veterinary and related fields. Produced by the National Library of Medicine (US). Coverage of MEDLINE and PubMed are highly similar, but not identical. | PubMed, Ovid, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, |
Embase 1974 – present | Broad coverage bibliographic database produced by Elsevier. Similar in size and scope to MEDLINE but also includes conference abstracts and other sources. | Ovid, Elsevier/Embase.com |
CINAHL various start dates – present | The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) includes nursing theses and other allied health literature. | EBSCOhost |
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials 1991 – present | An estimated 300,000 references to controlled trials identified by contributors to the Cochrane Collaboration. | EBSCOhost, Ovid, Wiley |
ERIC 1966 – present | Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a bibliographic database with a focus on education resources, produced by the United States Department of Education. | EBSCOhost, ProQuest, eric.ed.gov |
PsycINFO 1887 – present | Produced by the American Psychological Association, this bibliographic database contains journals, books, dissertations and other materials dating back to the 19th century. | Ovid, EBSCOhost, APA PsycNET |
SPORTDiscus 1892 – present | Sports and sports medicine bibliographic database with coverage from the 19th century. The database also includes nutrition, physical therapy and related allied health areas. | EBSCOhost |
Web of Science various start dates – present | Produced by Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science is a collection of sub-databases covering the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities and books. When searching, clarify which indexes or sections were searched. | Clarivate Analytics |
Scopus 1994 – present | A broad coverage database produced by Elsevier, including the life sciences, medical sciences, social sciences and humanities. It also includes patents. | Elsevier |
Global Health 1910 – present | Bibliographic database with an emphasis on global and public health. It also includes sanitation, nutrition, environmental and occupational health, among other areas. | EBSCOhost, Ovid, CABI |
AustHealth 1997 – present | A collection of multiple health-related databases covering the Australian literature. | Informit |
LILACS 1982 – present | Comprehensive bibliographic database of scientific research from Latin America and the Caribbean. It includes theses and other grey literature. | |
ASSIA 1987 – present | The Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) covers broad aspects of health and social care. | ProQuest |