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Corticosteroids - topical (skin), nose, and eyes - Evidence
Search strategy
Further information on the CKS literature searching policy is available in the 'About' section of the CKS website.
Scope of search
A literature search was conducted for guidelines, systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials on primary care management of corticosteroids.
Search dates
Date unrestricted – March 2010
Key search terms
Various combinations of searches were carried out. The terms listed below are the core search terms that were used for Medline and these were adapted for other databases. Further details are available on request.
- topical corticosteroid$.tw., (topical and corticosteroid).tw., (topical adj2 corticosteroid).tw.
Table 1. Key to search terms.
Search commands | Explanation |
|---|
/ | indicates a MeSh subject heading with all subheadings selected |
.tw | indicates a search for a term in the title or abstract |
exp | indicates that the MeSH subject heading was exploded to include the narrower, more specific terms beneath it in the MeSH tree |
$ | indicates that the search term was truncated (e.g. wart$ searches for wart and warts) |
Sources of guidelines
Sources of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
- The Cochrane Library:
- Systematic reviews
- Protocols
- Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects
- Medline (with systematic review filter)
- EMBASE (with systematic review filter)
Sources of health technology assessments and economic appraisals
Sources of randomized controlled trials
- The Cochrane Library:
- Central Register of Controlled Trials
- Medline (with randomized controlled trial filter)
- EMBASE (with randomized controlled trial filter)
Sources of evidence based reviews and evidence summaries
Sources of national policy
Sources of medicines information
The following sources are used by CKS pharmacists and are not necessarily searched by CKS information specialists for all topics. Some of these resources are not freely available and require subscriptions to access content.
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