Health Sciences Librarian
PT-Specific Databases
In addition to databases such as PubMed and Web of Science, Orthopedics & Rehabiltation/Physical Therapy literature can be found in the following databases:
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CINAHL CINAHL Plus with Full Text is a comprehensive source of full text for nursing & allied health journals, directly providing online full text through links within the database, or through the FIND IT button. This database also provides full text for 220 books/monographs. With full text coverage dating back to 1937, CINAHL Plus is the definitive research tool for all areas of nursing, allied health, and complementary and alternative therapies literature
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SPORTDiscus The SPORTDiscus covers both serial and monographic literature in the following areas of sport: recreation; exercise physiology; sports medicine; coaching; physical fitness; the psychology, history, and sociology of sport; training; and conditioning. Seventy per cent of the database consists of periodical articles. It is produced by the Sport Information Resource Centre.
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PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) PEDro is the Physiotherapy Evidence Database. PEDro is a free database of over 29,000 randomised trials, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines in physiotherapy. For each trial, review or guideline, PEDro provides the citation details, the abstract and a link to the full text, where possible. All trials on PEDro are independently assessed for quality. These quality ratings are used to quickly guide users to trials that are more likely to be valid and to contain sufficient information to guide clinical practice. PEDro is produced by the Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy at The George Institute for Global Health.
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REHABDATA REHABDATA, produced by the National Rehabilitation Information Center, is the leading literature database on disability and rehabilitation. The database describes over 80,000 documents covering physical, mental, and psychiatric disabilities, independent living, vocational rehabilitation, special education, assistive technology, law, employment, and other issues as they relate to people with disabilities. The collection spans 1956 to the present.
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OTSeeker "OTseeker is a database that contains abstracts of systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials and other resources relevant to occupational therapy interventions. Most trials have been critically appraised for their validity and interpretability. In one database, OTseeker provides fast and easy access to information from a wide range of sources to inform occupational therapy."
Other databases
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PubMed The best resource to find published literature in the health sciences. PubMed covers thousands of journals in all aspects of the health sciences (clinical, bench, economic, law, social, etc.). Results can be limited to individual studies/trials by applying "Type of Article" limits such Randomized Controlled Trials, Clinical Trial, Case Reports, etc. Users looking for the best evidence to answer clinical questions might consider conducting searches within Clinical Queries.
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Cochrane Library The Cochrane Library comprises three databases: the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) contains protocols and reviews of interventions, diagnostic tests, and methodology; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) brings together abstracts of published articles from EMBASE, MEDLINE, and other published and unpublished sources; Cochrane Clinical Answers (CCAs) contains point-of-care question and answer along with data. They are meant to be a “clinically-focused entry point to rigorous research from Cochrane Reviews.”
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Web of Science A very large general science and social science database that proves useful when looking for literature peripheral to the core health disciplines.
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Scopus Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. It includes 100% of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Compendex. When compared to PubMed, Scopus is particularly strong in the pharmaceutical sciences and non-North American literature.
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DynaMed DynaMed Plus is a clinical reference tool created by physicians for physicians and other health care professionals for use at the point-of-care. Content is written by a team of physicians and researchers who synthesize the evidence and provide objective analysis.
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UpToDate Note: due to licensing, you must log in with Net ID. An excellent background resource for students and clinicians interested in efficiently filling holes in their knowledge base. UpToDate is a large on-line medical textbook (~80,000 pages of text) containing short, well-written discussions of medical topics in internal medicine, pediatrics, ob/gyn and family medicine. Each review article is written by an expert in the field being discussed, and is designed to provide a quick way to get up to speed. Approximately 40% of the content is updated every four months.
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ClinicalKey ClinicalKey is a database that supports clinical decisions by making it easier to find and apply relevant knowledge. It provides full text access to selected medical texts, medical journals, practice guidelines, drug information, patient handouts, and CME materials.
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Google Scholar Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
Measurements and Tools
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Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Rehabilitation Measures Database Large database of more than 400 measures. Can filter by disorder, assessment type, and more. No membership required to use.
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Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI) Net ID login required. HAPI is a database of evaluation and measurement tools designed to facilitate health and psychosocial studies. The measurement instruments available include questionnaires, checklists, index measures, rating scales, project techniques, tests, interview schedules, and a variety of other means of evaluation. The database currently contains more than 45,000 records.
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PT Now From APTA. For APTA members only.
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Ebling's Health Sciences Tests & Measurements Guide Guide with tips on finding tests, databases, print resources, and more.
Productivity Tools
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Citation Management Guide Ebling Library's guide on the many citation managers supported on the UW-Madison campus, including EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero.