Adverse Effects, Drug-Induced

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When searching for a specific drug-induced adverse effect, combine a drug term in the Drug field with a free-text truncated keyword in the Title or Abstract fields, e.g. Drug: clozapine, Title or Abstract: "agranulocy*".

If this does not find the information you want, try a broader search by combining the drug term with an appropriate side effect descriptor, e.g. Drug: clozapine, Descriptor: "SIDE EF HEMIC LYMPHATIC 83".

A common mistake when searching for drug-induced adverse effects is using the Disease field to search for the specific disease or condition induced by the drug. Combining drug and disease search terms pulls articles in which the drug was used to treat the specified disease or was used in a patient with that disease.

AHRQ Documents

Searching the Journal field with AHRQ EVID REP or AHRQ COMP EFF REV will retrieve Evidence Reports or Comparative Effectiveness Reviews (respectively). Searching with only AHRQ in the Journal field will pull both AHRQ Evidence Reports and AHRQ Comparative Effectiveness Reviews. These are high-quality systematic evidence-based reviews sponsored by the United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). AHRQ is the lead Federal agency for the United States research on health care quality, costs, outcomes, and patient safety.

Allergenic Immunotherapy

Articles related to immunotherapy in the context of allergenic desensitization are indexed under DESENSITIZATION, ALLERGEN V07.1 not PROPHYLAXIS, IMMUNOTHERAPY V07.2.

Complementary and Alternative Medicines

Complementary and alternative medicine articles are indexed in the database and can be found by searching a specific herbal or one of the following drug terms: CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINES 92510129 , HERBAL MEDICINES 92510000, HOMEOPATHIC PREPARATIONS 92000210 when the article does not focus not on a specific herbal product.

Drug Interaction

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When looking for reports or studies of drug interactions, combine two drug terms with descriptors "DRUG COMBINATION 16" and "DRUG INTERACTION 50."

Drug: "ST JOHN'S WORT" and "ROSUVASTATIN"
Descriptors: "DRUG COMBINATION 16" AND "DRUG INTERACTION 50"

A broader, follow-up search to the one above is to drop the descriptor terms and combine the two drug terms with a free-text search in the title and/or abstract with any pertinent keywords related to the drug interaction.

Drug: "ST JOHN'S WORT" and "ROSUVASTATIN"
Title or Abstract: "interact*"

Editorials

How do I limit my search to editorials?

To limit a search to editorials, include "editorial" in the Author field.

Erratum

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How can I find if an article has an erratum or other type of correction?

The IDIS database allows you to find corrections to the original articles already in the database. The corrections are submitted by the original author(s) or the journal publisher. Articles that contain corrections have "CORRIGENDUM Z100." as an IDIS disease term. The corrigendum term includes articles that are erratum, addendum, retraction or note of plagiarism. The type of correction is listed in the title field followed by the article number for the original article or correction.

For example:
Article Number: 671736
Title: THE ROLE OF STEROIDS IN TREATING SEPTIC SHOCK (ERRATUM) (ART 675412)

In this example the original article is 671736 and the erratum is article 675412.

Failed Logins

If you are experiencing large numbers of failed login attempts on your IDIS Drug Database account you may increase the number of concurrent users on your license at any time during the year. Simply contact our office for a quotation at idis@uiowa.edu.

FDA Advisory Committee Meeting Updates

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Information from individual FDA Advisory Committee meetings is posted sporadically on the FDA web site. People unfamiliar with the postings of the FDA Advisory Committee meetings may not realize that information from a given meeting may be missing or not yet posted as there is currently no notice on the web site to alert users of pending or missing postings. It is often several months between the time the Meeting Notice and Briefing Information are posted and the meeting Transcript, Slides and Summary Minutes are posted. Errata to Briefing Information and the Transcript also occasionally appear.

We continually monitor 17 FDA Advisory Committees updating the IDIS database with the information from these meetings as it becomes available. We occasionally contact the FDA officers in charge of the various meetings when meeting postings are missing or slow in appearing.

Information from FDA Advisory Committee meetings is easily found in the IDIS database with descriptor "FDA ADVISORY COMMMITTEE 164." The FDA Advisory Committee name and date of meeting are included in the Title of each item from a meeting, e.g. "SUMMARY MINUTES. ONCOLOGIC DRUGS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING, OCTOBER 5, 2009." In IDIS, FDA Advisory Committee meeting items typically include: Notice of Meeting, Waivers of Conflict(s) of Interest, Briefing Information from Drug Sponsor, Briefing Information from FDA, Questions to the Committee, Transcript and Slides, and Summary Minutes.

FDA Advisory Committee Meetings

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FDA Advisory Committee meeting documents may be found by searching Descriptor: FDA ADVISORY COMMITTEE 164.

Advisory committees often review and discuss the pivotal drug trial(s) of investigational new drugs and submit their opinion of the safety and efficacy of the drug to the FDA. Meetings discussing post-marketing safety and efficacy of FDA Approved drugs are also common.

Briefing Information from Drug Sponsor, Briefing Information from FDA, Transcript and Slides, Summary Minutes, and Notice of Meeting are the most common documents made available from an FDA Advisory Committee meeting.

FORMULATION EFFICACY Descriptor

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When looking for information on delayed-, time-, sustained-, or extended-release drug products, descriptor "FORMULATION EFFICACY 22" is a helpful descriptor to include in a search statement. Combining this descriptor with a drug term will narrow the search to include articles in which formulations other than the immediate-release or standard product are discussed. One author may refer to it as "sustained-release" whereas another may refer to it as "delayed-release" in the published literature. Descriptor "FORMULATION EFFICACY 22" will ensure that both scenarios are retrieved.

Guideline Adherence

Articles concerning adherence to guidelines, or use of guidelines, are indexed with the combination of descriptors GUIDELINES 156 and DRUG UTILIZATION 128. To retrieve these articles, either enter the descriptor numbers into the Descriptor field (156 and 128), or use the autosuggest or Look Up feature to select and submit these descriptors. Descriptor Look Up can be accessed by clicking on the Descriptor field label.

Immunization

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Articles related to both active and passive immunization are included in the database.

Active immunization:
The defined disease term for "active immunization" is "INOCULATION AND VACCINATION 99.3". A search combining "INOCULATION AND VACCINATION 99.3" and a defined disease term for a specific infection and the Boolean operator "and" in the Disease field retrieves articles related to immuno-preventive therapy for a specific infection, e.g.: Disease field: "INOCULATION AND VACCINATION 99.3" and "HEPATITIS, VIRAL B 070.2"

Passive Immunization:
The defined disease term for "passive immunization" is "PROPHYLAXIS, IMMUNOTHERAPY V07.2". A search combining "PROPHYLAXIS, IMMUNOTHERAPY V07.2" and a defined disease term for a specific infection and the Boolean operator "and" in the Disease field retrieves articles related to passive immunization therapy for a specific infection, e.g.: Disease field: "PROPHYLAXIS, IMMUNOTHERAPY V07.2" and "HEPATITIS, VIRAL B 070.2"

Lactation

How do I search for articles about drugs used in lactation?

To search for articles about drugs used in lactation, enter the valid drug term(s) in the Drug field and use the LACTATING MOTHER V24.1 check tag in the Disease field.

Letters to the Editor

How do I limit my search to letters to the editor?

To limit a search to letters to the editor, include "letter to ed" in the Author field.

Logging Off

Remember to click on the "Log Off" link in the top menu bar of IDIS Drug Database before closing your web browser. If you forget to log off, the system will timeout the connection after 20 minutes of inactivity.

NICE Documents

Searching the Journal field with NICE CLIN GUIDEL or NICE TECHNOL APPRAISAL GUID will retrieve Clinical Guidelines or Technology Appraisal Guidance (respectively). Searching with only NICE in the Journal field will retrieve both NICE Clinical Guidelines and NICE Technology Appraisal Guidance documents. These are high-quality systematic evidence-based reviews from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE guidance is developed using the expertise of the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales and the wider healthcare community including NHS staff, healthcare professionals, patients and carers, industry and the academic world.

Pharmacoeconomics

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How can I find articles that deal with the economic issues of drug therapy?

Six economic outcome descriptors were added to the IDIS database in November 1993. The descriptors are:

ECON DRUG ECONOMICS 129
ECON COST BENEFIT 130
ECON COST EFFECTIVENESS 131
ECON COST MINIMIZATION 132
ECON COST OF ILLNESS 133
ECON COST UTILITY 134

The economics descriptor terms begin with "ECON" followed by the study type. The pharmacoeconomics definitions are based on the criteria of Luce & Elixhauser and consider drug intervention cost and consequence measurements. Intervention costs are measured in monetary values, but the measurement of the consequences differentiates the study types. Detailed definitions for each economics descriptor may be found in Descriptor Definitions, a link on the left-hand side of the main search screen.

Pivotal Studies and FDA Advisory Committee Meetings

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The purpose of many FDA Advisory Committee meetings is to discuss the safety and efficacy of new drugs that are under review by the FDA for approval. Before an FDA Advisory Committee meeting, the Drug Sponsor and the FDA provide Briefing Information on the proposed new drug. The pivotal studies, the studies the drug sponsor believe prove the safety and efficacy of their product are very often contained in the Briefing Information from the Drug Sponsor and the Briefing Information from the FDA. Documents related to FDA Advisory Committee meetings, including the Briefing Information, may be found in IDIS by using descriptor FDA ADVISORY COMMITTEE 164 in conjunction with a drug term or other search terms. Note that not all drugs submitted to the FDA for approval are discussed at an FDA Advisory Committee meeting.

Pivotal Studies in Three Formats

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If a new drug or biologic is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the pivotal studies that appeared in the FDA Advisory Committee Briefing Information often appear again in the Medical Review(s) and Statistical Review(s) sections of the FDA Approval Package for the drug. There may be differences in the information due to different reviewer analyses.

Some of the pivotal studies, although not all, are also published in journals. Therefore, it is sometimes possible to find 3 different write ups or reviews of the data from a pivotal study.

Population Tags

Use of "population tags" will limit a search to articles relating to drug use in a particular population, such as in pregnancy, in athletes or in a particular age group. Enter the relevant tag into the Disease field of the search Home search page or select age populations from the Search Limits section of the Home search page.

The population tags are:

V22. Pregnancy NEC
V28. Fetus: In Utero
V39. Neonate: Newborn to 4 Wks
V85. Pediatric: 1 Mth to 12 Yrs
V21.1 Puberty and Adolescence: 13 to 19 Yrs
V86. Geriatric:65 Yrs and Over
V87. Race
V88. Athlete

Search Strategy Assistance

Would you like assistance with developing your search strategy within IDIS Drug Database? Please do not hesitate to contact our office at 1-800-525-4347 or idis@uiowa.edu. One of our Pharmacists would be happy to help!

Searching with Drug and Disease Terms

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In the Drug and Disease Fields on the Home search page you may enter any drug or disease and it will automatically be cross-referenced and searched for you. In doing so, however, you are likely to get hits that make you scratch your head and wonder why. This is because of the cross-referencing. Therefore, to get the cleanest, most exact searches, you should rely on the autosuggest feature to help you find the valid indexing terms. You can also use the field Look Up feature (accessed by clicking the field label) or the Thesaurus located in the Search Tools section on the right side of the search page. Using the Look Up or Thesaurus will help you find the exact drug, disease and descriptor terms to use in your search. In the Thesaurus drug terms are preceded by DR, disease terms by DI and Descriptors by DE.

Teaching with IDIS

Would you like to utilize the IDIS Database for teaching students? Current subscribers may request additional concurrent users for a limited time period at no additional cost, when using IDIS for training or teaching purposes in a classroom setting. Simply notify our office in advance to make arrangements. You can send us an email with the date and number of seats needed for your class at idis@uiowa.edu.

Topic Suggestions

Do you have a topic area or descriptor that you would like to see covered in IDIS? Send us an email at idis@uiowa.edu or call 1-800-525-4347 with your suggestion. We would be happy to evaluate your request to see if it meets our criteria.

Vaccines and Cancer

Articles related to the use of vaccines in the treatment of cancer (BCG vaccine for bladder neoplasm for example) can be retrieved by conducting a search with the defined disease term corresponding to the neoplasm in the disease field and the defined drug term corresponding to the vaccine in the drug field without the disease term INOCULATION AND VACCINATION 99.3. This disease term is reserved for a true vaccine with a focus on the prevention of disease.