Research Question: Is the use of soap and water or alcohol-based rubs more effective in preventing hospital infections?
Patient | Intervention | Comparison | Outcome | Time | |
Term/Synonyms |
Hospital Patients In-patient |
Soap and Water Hand Washing |
Alcohol rubs | Infection Prevention | Hospital duration |
Subject Headings |
Hand Disinfection Hand Hygiene |
Hand Sanitizers |
Cross Infection Nosocomial Infection |
Length of Stay |
All searches are a balance between choosing enough terms to be specific, but still give you helpful results
Combine terms with:
OR - for synonyms; words in the same column
AND - for different elements; words in different columns
(---) - to group words together
General Rules:
Specific/Narrow Search Statement:
(In-patient OR Hospital) AND (Hand washing OR Disinfection) AND (Alcohol OR Sanitizer) AND Infection
Broader Search Statement:
hospital AND Hand Washing AND Infection AND Length of Stay
In-Patient AND Alcohol rub AND Infection