# Common PubMed Query Patterns This reference provides practical examples of common PubMed search patterns for various research scenarios. ## General Research Queries ### Finding Recent Research on a Topic ``` breast cancer[tiab] AND 2023:2024[dp] ``` ### Systematic Reviews on a Topic ``` (diabetes[tiab] OR diabetes mellitus[mh]) AND systematic review[pt] ``` ### Meta-Analyses ``` hypertension[tiab] AND meta-analysis[pt] AND 2020:2024[dp] ``` ### Clinical Trials ``` alzheimer disease[mh] AND randomized controlled trial[pt] ``` ### Finding Guidelines ``` asthma[tiab] AND (guideline[pt] OR practice guideline[pt]) ``` ## Disease-Specific Queries ### Cancer Research ``` # General cancer screening cancer screening[tiab] AND systematic review[pt] AND 2020:2024[dp] # Specific cancer type with treatment lung cancer[tiab] AND immunotherapy[tiab] AND clinical trial[pt] # Cancer genetics breast neoplasms[mh] AND BRCA1[tiab] AND genetic testing[tiab] ``` ### Cardiovascular Disease ``` # Heart disease prevention (heart disease[tiab] OR cardiovascular disease[mh]) AND prevention[tiab] AND 2022:2024[dp] # Stroke treatment stroke[mh] AND (thrombectomy[tiab] OR thrombolysis[tiab]) AND randomized controlled trial[pt] # Hypertension management hypertension[mh]/drug therapy AND comparative effectiveness[tiab] ``` ### Infectious Diseases ``` # COVID-19 research COVID-19[tiab] AND (vaccine[tiab] OR vaccination[tiab]) AND 2023:2024[dp] # Antibiotic resistance (antibiotic resistance[tiab] OR drug resistance, bacterial[mh]) AND systematic review[pt] # Tuberculosis treatment tuberculosis[mh]/drug therapy AND (multidrug-resistant[tiab] OR MDR-TB[tiab]) ``` ### Neurological Disorders ``` # Alzheimer's disease alzheimer disease[mh] AND (diagnosis[sh] OR biomarkers[tiab]) AND 2020:2024[dp] # Parkinson's disease treatment parkinson disease[mh] AND treatment[tiab] AND clinical trial[pt] # Multiple sclerosis multiple sclerosis[mh] AND disease modifying[tiab] AND review[pt] ``` ### Diabetes ``` # Type 2 diabetes management diabetes mellitus, type 2[mh] AND (lifestyle[tiab] OR diet[tiab]) AND randomized controlled trial[pt] # Diabetes complications diabetes mellitus[mh] AND (complications[sh] OR diabetic neuropathy[mh]) # New diabetes drugs diabetes mellitus, type 2[mh] AND (GLP-1[tiab] OR SGLT2[tiab]) AND 2022:2024[dp] ``` ## Drug and Treatment Research ### Drug Efficacy Studies ``` # Compare two drugs (drug A[nm] OR drug B[nm]) AND condition[mh] AND comparative effectiveness[tiab] # Drug side effects medication name[nm] AND (adverse effects[sh] OR side effects[tiab]) # Drug combination therapy (aspirin[nm] AND clopidogrel[nm]) AND acute coronary syndrome[mh] ``` ### Treatment Comparisons ``` # Surgery vs medication condition[mh] AND (surgery[tiab] OR surgical[tiab]) AND (medication[tiab] OR drug therapy[sh]) AND comparative study[pt] # Different surgical approaches procedure[tiab] AND (laparoscopic[tiab] OR open surgery[tiab]) AND outcomes[tiab] ``` ### Alternative Medicine ``` # Herbal supplements (herbal medicine[mh] OR phytotherapy[mh]) AND condition[tiab] AND clinical trial[pt] # Acupuncture acupuncture[mh] AND pain[tiab] AND randomized controlled trial[pt] ``` ## Diagnostic Research ### Diagnostic Tests ``` # Sensitivity and specificity test name[tiab] AND condition[tiab] AND (sensitivity[tiab] AND specificity[tiab]) # Diagnostic imaging (MRI[tiab] OR magnetic resonance imaging[tiab]) AND brain tumor[tiab] AND diagnosis[sh] # Lab test evaluation biomarker name[tiab] AND disease[tiab] AND (diagnostic[tiab] OR screening[tiab]) ``` ### Screening Programs ``` # Cancer screening cancer type[tiab] AND screening[tiab] AND (cost effectiveness[tiab] OR benefit[tiab]) # Population screening condition[tiab] AND mass screening[mh] AND public health[tiab] ``` ## Population-Specific Queries ### Pediatric Research ``` # Children with specific condition condition[tiab] AND (child[mh] OR pediatric[tiab]) AND treatment[tiab] # Age-specific disease[tiab] AND (infant[mh] OR child, preschool[mh]) # Pediatric dosing drug name[nm] AND pediatric[tiab] AND (dosing[tiab] OR dose[tiab]) ``` ### Geriatric Research ``` # Elderly population condition[tiab] AND (aged[mh] OR elderly[tiab] OR geriatric[tiab]) # Aging and disease aging[mh] AND disease[tiab] AND mechanism[tiab] # Polypharmacy polypharmacy[tiab] AND elderly[tiab] AND adverse effects[tiab] ``` ### Pregnant Women ``` # Pregnancy and medications drug name[nm] AND (pregnancy[mh] OR pregnant women[tiab]) AND safety[tiab] # Pregnancy complications pregnancy complication[tiab] AND management[tiab] ``` ### Sex-Specific Research ``` # Female-specific condition[tiab] AND female[mh] AND hormones[tiab] # Male-specific disease[tiab] AND male[mh] AND risk factors[tiab] # Sex differences condition[tiab] AND (sex factors[mh] OR gender differences[tiab]) ``` ## Epidemiology and Public Health ### Prevalence Studies ``` disease[tiab] AND (prevalence[tiab] OR epidemiology[sh]) AND country/region[tiab] ``` ### Incidence Studies ``` condition[tiab] AND incidence[tiab] AND population[tiab] AND 2020:2024[dp] ``` ### Risk Factors ``` disease[mh] AND (risk factors[mh] OR etiology[sh]) AND cohort study[tiab] ``` ### Global Health ``` disease[tiab] AND (developing countries[mh] OR low income[tiab]) AND burden[tiab] ``` ### Health Disparities ``` condition[tiab] AND (health disparities[tiab] OR health equity[tiab]) AND minority groups[tiab] ``` ## Methodology-Specific Queries ### Research Methodology #### Cohort Studies ``` condition[tiab] AND cohort study[tiab] AND prospective[tiab] ``` #### Case-Control Studies ``` disease[tiab] AND case-control studies[mh] AND risk factors[tiab] ``` #### Cross-Sectional Studies ``` condition[tiab] AND cross-sectional studies[mh] AND prevalence[tiab] ``` ### Statistical Methods ``` # Machine learning in medicine (machine learning[tiab] OR artificial intelligence[tiab]) AND diagnosis[tiab] AND validation[tiab] # Bayesian analysis condition[tiab] AND bayes theorem[mh] AND clinical decision[tiab] ``` ### Genetic and Molecular Research ``` # GWAS studies disease[tiab] AND (genome-wide association study[tiab] OR GWAS[tiab]) # Gene expression gene name[tiab] AND (gene expression[mh] OR mRNA[tiab]) AND disease[tiab] # Proteomics condition[tiab] AND proteomics[mh] AND biomarkers[tiab] # CRISPR research CRISPR[tiab] AND (gene editing[tiab] OR genome editing[tiab]) AND 2020:2024[dp] ``` ## Author and Institution Queries ### Finding Work by Specific Author ``` # Single author smith ja[au] AND cancer[tiab] AND 2023:2024[dp] # First author only jones m[1au] AND cardiology[tiab] # Multiple authors from same group (smith ja[au] OR jones m[au] OR wilson k[au]) AND research topic[tiab] ``` ### Institution-Specific Research ``` # University affiliation harvard[affil] AND cancer research[tiab] AND 2023:2024[dp] # Hospital research "mayo clinic"[affil] AND clinical trial[pt] # Country-specific japan[affil] AND robotics[tiab] AND surgery[tiab] ``` ## Journal-Specific Queries ### High-Impact Journals ``` # Specific journal nature[ta] AND genetics[tiab] AND 2024[dp] # Multiple journals (nature[ta] OR science[ta] OR cell[ta]) AND immunology[tiab] # Journal with ISSN 0028-4793[issn] AND clinical trial[pt] ``` ## Citation and Reference Queries ### Finding Specific Articles ``` # By PMID 12345678[pmid] # By DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa123456[doi] # By first author and year smith ja[1au] AND 2023[dp] AND cancer[tiab] ``` ### Finding Cited Work ``` # Related articles Similar Articles feature from any PubMed result # By keyword in references Use "Cited by" links when available ``` ## Advanced Combination Queries ### Comprehensive Literature Review ``` (disease name[tiab] OR disease name[mh]) AND ((treatment[tiab] OR therapy[tiab] OR management[tiab]) OR (diagnosis[tiab] OR screening[tiab]) OR (epidemiology[tiab] OR prevalence[tiab])) AND (systematic review[pt] OR meta-analysis[pt] OR review[pt]) AND 2019:2024[dp] AND english[la] ``` ### Precision Medicine Query ``` (precision medicine[tiab] OR personalized medicine[tiab] OR pharmacogenomics[mh]) AND cancer[tiab] AND (biomarkers[tiab] OR genetic testing[tiab]) AND clinical application[tiab] AND 2020:2024[dp] ``` ### Translational Research ``` (basic science[tiab] OR bench to bedside[tiab] OR translational medical research[mh]) AND disease[tiab] AND (clinical trial[pt] OR clinical application[tiab]) AND 2020:2024[dp] ``` ## Quality Filters ### High-Quality Evidence ``` condition[tiab] AND (randomized controlled trial[pt] OR systematic review[pt] OR meta-analysis[pt]) AND humans[mh] AND english[la] AND 2020:2024[dp] ``` ### Free Full Text Articles ``` topic[tiab] AND free full text[sb] AND 2023:2024[dp] ``` ### Articles with Abstracts ``` condition[tiab] AND hasabstract[text] AND review[pt] ``` ## Staying Current ### Latest Publications ``` topic[tiab] AND 2024[dp] AND english[la] ``` ### Preprints and Early Access ``` topic[tiab] AND (epub ahead of print[tiab] OR publisher[sb]) ``` ### Setting Up Alerts ``` # Create search and save to My NCBI # Enable email alerts for new matching articles topic[tiab] AND (randomized controlled trial[pt] OR systematic review[pt]) ``` ## COVID-19 Specific Queries ### Vaccine Research ``` (COVID-19[tiab] OR SARS-CoV-2[tiab]) AND (vaccine[tiab] OR vaccination[tiab]) AND (efficacy[tiab] OR effectiveness[tiab]) AND 2023:2024[dp] ``` ### Long COVID ``` (long covid[tiab] OR post-acute covid[tiab] OR PASC[tiab]) AND (symptoms[tiab] OR treatment[tiab]) ``` ### COVID Treatment ``` COVID-19[tiab] AND (antiviral[tiab] OR monoclonal antibody[tiab] OR treatment[tiab]) AND randomized controlled trial[pt] ``` ## Tips for Constructing Queries ### 1. PICO Framework Use PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) to structure clinical queries: ``` P: diabetes mellitus, type 2[mh] I: metformin[nm] C: lifestyle modification[tiab] O: glycemic control[tiab] Query: diabetes mellitus, type 2[mh] AND (metformin[nm] OR lifestyle modification[tiab]) AND glycemic control[tiab] ``` ### 2. Iterative Refinement Start broad, review results, refine: ``` 1. diabetes → too broad 2. diabetes mellitus type 2 → better 3. diabetes mellitus, type 2[mh] AND metformin[nm] → more specific 4. diabetes mellitus, type 2[mh] AND metformin[nm] AND randomized controlled trial[pt] → focused ``` ### 3. Use Search History Combine previous searches in Advanced Search: ``` #1: diabetes mellitus, type 2[mh] #2: cardiovascular disease[mh] #3: #1 AND #2 AND risk factors[tiab] ``` ### 4. Save Effective Searches Create My NCBI account to save successful queries for future use and set up automatic alerts.