What are the differences between Emtree and MeSH? August 2012
What are the differences between Emtree and MeSH? This document addresses the following questions: What do Emtree and MeSH have in common? What are the differences between Emtree and MeSH? How important are these differences to (potential) customers? Why would customers choose Emtree instead of MeSH? Both are comprehensive biomedical / life science terminologies Similar facet structure (Emtree was modeled on MeSH in 1988) Both thesauri have broader/narrower terms and synonyms Both have major annual updates with hundreds of new terms Both are linked to CAS registry numbers and Enzyme Commission (EC) numbers What are Emtree s plus points and why are they important? Emtree MeSH Emtree benefits for users Natural language terminology (e.g. myeloid leukemia) More than 270,000 synonyms (incl. over 175,000 drug synonyms) Includes all MeSH terms (many as Emtree synonyms) Relies upon meaning invested in terms by authors using them Larger (over 60,000 preferred terms) Extensive drugs facet (over 30,000 preferred terms) New drug terms are updated earlier in Emtree Polyhierarchical structure with duplicated trees All drug and chemical information is included in Emtree Has many inverted terms (e.g. leukemia, myeloid) Fewer synonyms ( entry terms ) than in Emtree Has many scope notes to describe how terms are used Smaller (ca. 26,000 preferred terms) More limited drugs facet (ca. 8,800 preferred terms) Drug terms are only updated when they become established Polyhierarchical structure with differences between trees Detailed drug information is in a separate ( supplementary ) file Intuitive and recognisable terms for ease of use High probability that terms searched by users are in Emtree Emtree is easy for MeSH users to search No dependence on or need to look up scope notes Best chance of finding both drug and non-drug terminology Drugs terminology is more upto-date Best results for new drugs Unambiguous and context-free explosion searches All the drug information you need is in Emtree Page 2
What plus points might users find in MeSH? Why choose Emtree instead of MeSH? Emtree terminology: MeSH has extensive history notes, which can be used to track earlier literature predating the introduction of particular terms. MeSH has extensive scope notes. However, these include restrictions in term usage which users need to be aware of, as well as term definitions MeSH has extensive terminology in nursing, veterinary medicine and dentistry (all of these terms are in Em tree, but many are synonyms). includes all of MeSH (i.e. all MeSH terms are mapped to Emtree). is readily extensible in response to user needs, subject to agreement with overall policy. is optimally embedded into Elsevier s platform (Embase.com) In addition, Emtree drugs terminology is: more extensive: with many synonyms (incl. many trade names) mapping to each drug term up to date: with three updates each year, Emtree is especially suited for finding information on new drugs. polyhierarchic: each drug is accessible from multiple points of view (e.g. structure, activity, therapeutic use). Page 3
Drug Information Study To illustrate the differences between Emtree and MeSH when searching for (new) drugs, several drug searches were performed in Embase (indexed with Emtree) and MEDLINE (indexed with MeSH). Result: from 2-12 times more information is retrieved from Embase (see table). Product name ¹ Search term MeSH Preferred term Emtree Preferred term or Substance name Citations Embase MEDLINE Nexium esomeprazole omeprazole 2 2,092 1,003 Lipitor atorvastatin atorvastatin 3 9,452 1,597 Plavix clopidogrel clopidogrel 3 15,342 2,446 Advair fluticasone propionate plus salmeterol fluticasone, salmeterol drug combination 3 1,127 91 Oxycontin oxycodone oxycodone 4 3,547 373 Abilify aripiprazole aripiprazole 3 4,053 703 Singulair montelukast montelukast 3 2,314 399 Seroquel quetiapine quetiapine 3 6,254 696 Crestor rosuvastatin rosuvastatin 3 3,766 665 Cymbalta duloxetine duloxetine 3 3,099 457 Online study conducted on 26 July 2011, on Embase (www.embase.com) and MEDLINE (via PubMed). 1 Drugs were the top 10 leading products based on U.S. pharmaceutical sales (source: Drug.com (http://www.drugs.com/top200.html)). Search period: literature publication years 2007 July 2011. Search method: each database was searched using the Emtree or MeSH preferred term as appropriate. Where MeSH lacked a preferred term, the NLM Supplementary Concept data were searched instead. 2 This MeSH term contains the Emtree term as a synonym (Emtree lists omeprazole as a different term) 3 Searched as Substance name from the NLM Supplementary Concept Data 4 Searched as MeSH preferred term Page 4
Database synopses Embase: Biomedical database produced by Elsevier Comprehensive coverage of biomedicine with focus on drugs & pharmacology Indexed with Emtree (over 60,000 Preferred Terms, including over 30,000 drugs and chemicals) Over 25 million records from 1947-present; currently covers over 7,500 journals. Covers all journals in MEDLINE together with 2,000 unique journals not in MEDLINE Unique records are found especially in pharmacology journal titles and European literature MEDLINE: Biomedical database produced by NLM (U.S. National Library of Medicine) Focus on all of biomedicine including nursing, dentistry and veterinary science Indexed with MeSH (= Medical Subject Headings with over 26,000 MeSH Terms) Over 19 million records from 1947-present; currently covers over 5,600 journals All MEDLINE journals are included in Embase More information Please refer to www.embase.com/info Page 5
For more information please visit: embase.com/info E-Helpdesks e-mail addresses: EMEA: nlinfo@elsevier.com APAC: sginfo@elsevier.com Americas: usinfo@elsevier.com Brazil: brinfo@elsevier.com Japan: jpinfo@elsevier.com Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Embase is a trademark of Elsevier B.V.