Research Guides: Complementary & Alternative Medicine: Find Articles/Databases

CINAHL

CINAHL Complete This link opens in a new window
Indexes over 1200 journals and publications related to nursing, physical therapy, health education, social service/healthcare, occupational therapy, and related disciplines.

Tips for Using CINAHL for CAM Research

CINAHL Subject Headings

Read scope notes for various complementary/alternative therapies listed under the CINAHL Subject: "Alternative Therapies."

If you "explode" (+) a subject heading, you include all the narrower subject headings under that term. So searching: MH "Alternative Therapies+" as exact subject heading (MH) retrieves records tagged with any subject heading for alternative therapies (e.g., MH "Mind Body Techniques" OR MH "Medicine, Herbal" OR MH "Aromatherapy" OR ...).

Here's a sample search strategy for records describing articles about depression and alternative therapies:

(MH "Alternative Therapies+") AND (MH "Depression+")

This search yields records for articles covering the topic alternative/complementary therapies AND records tagged for all types of depression

CINAHL Journal Subset: Alternative/Complementary Therapies

In CINAHL's Search Options, you can limit your results to only see records from journals that have been tagged by CINAHL as relating to CAM disciplines.

For a list of journals that are included in the Alternative/Complementary Therapies subset, visit this EBSCO help page.

Directions for Limiting to a Journal Subset in CINAHL:

Run a search for your topic of interest (perhaps the population or problem you are interested in)
Navigate to the filters on the left side of the page ("Refine Results")
Under 'Limit to" select "Show More"
In the Search Options box, scroll to "Journal Subset"
Select "Alternative/Complementary Therapies"
Click 'Search' to apply the filter

Silent 20 second video clip illustrating the steps for filtering to the Alternative/Complementary Therapies journal subset in CINAHL.

PubMed

Medline via PubMed This link opens in a new window
Widely recognized as the premier source for bibliographic and abstract coverage of biomedical literature. Subjects covered include all aspects of clinical medicine (diseases and disorders, diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and equipment), basic biomedical sciences (anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, genetics, microbiology and pharmacology) as well as nursing, dentistry and clinical psychology.

Tips for Using PubMed to Find CAM Research

MeSH Terms

The is a Medical Subject Heading (MeSH term) for CAM therapies is "Complementary Therapies", and there are many more specific therapies named under that term in the hierarchy of the MeSH thesaurus (see the MeSH thesaurus entry). Read the scope notes for those therapies to determine the best subject to use in your search, or search "Complementary Therapies"[MeSH] to include all those terms in the search.

Here is an example of a search query that looks for records that are tagged with a MeSH heading describing a CAM therapy and a MeSH heading describing a depressive disorder:

"Complementary Therapies"[Mesh] AND "Depressive Disorder"[Mesh]

Complementary Medicine Filter

Additionally, there is a complementary medicine 'hedge' or 'filter' you can use in your PubMed search.

The strategy was created using terms from the Complementary Therapies branch of MeSH, as well as additional terms and names of MEDLINE journals provided by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), NIH. It is provided to facilitate searching for subjects in the area of complementary and alternative medicine. This search filter has not been updated since 2019, but can be accessed at PubMed Special Queries.

Additional Databases

Cochrane Library (includes: CDSR, DARE, CCTR, HTA, NHSEED, CRG's) This link opens in a new window
Some Cochrane systematic reviews have been conducted on topics that are classified as complementary & alternative medicine.
To see all Cochrane reviews under this category, click "Browse">"Complementary & alternative medicine"

Alternatively, search using keywords, and then "Filter your results> Topics> "Complementary & alternative medicine"
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
A multi-disciplinary resource, ProQuest Central is especially useful for research on contemporary topics or for the beginning stages of a research project. It offers citations from a wide range of English language academic journals, newspapers and magazines.

Results can be narrowed by "related topic" to see terms related to alternative medicine, and limited to scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed.
PsycINFO via Ovid This link opens in a new window
To search alternative medicine topics in PsycINFO, try the Index Term "alternative medicine"

Be sure to EXPLODE the subject term like this:
exp alternative medicine/ AND [your topic]
Example: exp alternative medicine/ AND depression
EMBASE: Excerpta Medica 1974 – present (updated daily) This link opens in a new window
Embase is a major biomedical and pharmaceutical database indexing over 3,500 international journals with selective coverage for alternative medicine.

Try the Emtree subject heading "Alternative Medicine" and read scope notes for the more specific terms listed under that heading. Explode "Alternative Medicine" to include all those narrower terms (exp alternative medicine/).

Reference Resources

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (NMCD) This link opens in a new window
Natural Medicines (formerly Natural Standard and Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database) is an authoritative resource of monographs on dietary supplements, natural medicines, and complementary alternative and integrative therapies.