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Irish Child Health Database - Peer Reviewed Papers

Database Search

How to use this database.

• Method 1- uses a free natural language approach.

  After choosing the object of the search – by ticking title, abstract, aims and objective, or author - enter a term, word or name in the ‘Search’ box to return references answering your research question.

• Method 2 - utilises key words.

  Those key words assigned from thesauruses of controlled vocabulary by the trained coders of international bibliographic databases.
  The controlled vocabularies key word are listed alphanumerically under 'Bibliographic database keywords' .
  Use the drop down menu to identity which 'key words' you are interested in to return references to answer your research question.

• Method 3 - is based on the indexing system

  developed by the researchers who compiled this database.
  It adopts a thematic approach to mapping Irish child health research. The themed areas represent outcomes mapped to the International Classification of Disease version 10 (ICD-10) or one of 23 other health-related themed outcomes. Themes are defined in Tables 5 to 7 (of the study report).
  Use the alphabetic drop down menu under ‘ICD-10 or themed health-related outcomes’ to identity which themed areas you are interested in to select references to answer your research question.

• Method 4 – allows papers to be searched by Study type.

  Indexing by study type offers a valuable insight into understanding the population impact of the topic of interest. More than 20 study types were identified across the 2,152 study papers. These are defined in Table 3 (of the study report). Within 'Study type' papers are further stratification by geographical region (Table 49), topic area of interest and study aims and objectives.
  Click on 'Study type' to select the type of study of interest, progressively select sub-categories by topic area or other sub-classification of interest to answer your research question.

The complete background, methods and findings from this mapping exercise are detailed in the study report.

Research provides a targeted and informative way of understanding issues of health not well illustrated by routine information data sources. The peer review papers of national and international journals are an important window on the character of national research.

This study systematically reviewed the peer review published literature on Irish Child Health from 2000 to 2008. Using a predefined set of keywords and search terms over 5,500 journal articles were identified for further examination. Screening reduced the number of articles reporting on aspects of research on children to 3,229, of which 2,152 were individual research studies. Findings were mapped according to a range of characteristics which demonstrated important features observed from the studied papers:

1. the nature of the research - study type;
2. the topic area of interest;
3. the demographic characteristics of the studied population and their geographical spread.

The major findings of the study are presented with regard to the aetiological (causal) or descriptive nature of the work, the classifiable or themed health-related outcomes and the types of studied populations - hospital-based, school-based or community-based. Background, methods and findings are detailed in the study report.

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