|
PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) is a free database that provides access to more than 58,000 randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and clinical practice guidelines relevant to physiotherapy. It offers high-quality resources to support clinical practice and teaching. The trials are rated using the PEDro scale, enabling users to quickly identify the most relevant and methodologically sound studies. Developed and maintained by the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health and Neuroscience Research Australia, PEDro is used by students, researchers, educators, and clinicians worldwide, with over 3.8 million searches conducted in 2022. |
These searches include a single text field. Enter the term you want to search for in the search box and click the search button to query the database. If too many results are retrieved, you can narrow your search by adding more terms.
Go to the advanced search page, enter the terms in the text fields, or select the terms from the drop-down menus in one of the search fields. In general, the most effective method is to type one or more search terms into the “Abstract and Title” field. It is not necessary to enter search terms in every box. A maximum of three fields is usually sufficient.
If you want to search for variations of a term, place an asterisk (*) at the end or at the beginning of the word to indicate any letter or group of letters. The asterisk represents unlimited truncation and may replace any number of characters (including zero).
Another wildcard is the @ symbol, which indicates mandatory truncation (a single character).
To search using all search terms, use the AND operator by clicking the button next to “Match all search terms (AND)” at the bottom of the advanced search page.
To search using any of the search terms, use the OR operator by clicking the button next to “Match any search term (OR)” at the bottom of the advanced search page.
You cannot combine AND and OR operators in a single search; however, you can search for two or more terms by placing them together inside quotation marks. Wildcards cannot be used inside quotation marks.
At the bottom of the advanced search page, you can select the number of records to display per results page (between 5 and 50). If no selection is made, the search will return 20 records per page.
Once your search strategy is defined, click the search button to begin.
What is PEDro?
PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) is an evidence-based physiotherapy database that provides physiotherapists worldwide with easy access to high-quality clinical research to support effective clinical practice and teaching. PEDro is a well-established, robust, and reliable database offering access to over 60,000 randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines relevant to physiotherapy.
How often is the PEDro database updated?
PEDro is updated once a month, usually on the first Monday of each month.
What are the criteria for including a systematic review in the PEDro database?
The review must contain a methods section describing the search strategy and inclusion criteria.
The review must include at least one trial, review, or guideline (or explicitly describe the search even if no trial, review, or guideline is found) that meets the inclusion criteria for PEDro.
The article must be published in full text (not just an abstract) in a peer-reviewed journal.
How many types of searches are available in the PEDro database?
PEDro offers three search pages: Advanced, Simple, and Consumer. Health professionals are recommended to use the Advanced Search, which contains 13 fields to precisely define search terms. New users should start with the Simple Search, which contains a single text field. Patients and other physiotherapy users can access the Consumer Search, which uses less technical language.
How can we access the full text when searching PEDro?
Links to the full text (both free and paid) are available in the summary section on the Detailed Search Results page. A record may have multiple links depending on whether it is indexed in databases such as Medline or PubMed Central, whether it has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), or if the publisher provides a website. Links are listed based on the likelihood of free full-text access. Links at the top of the list are more likely to provide free access, while those at the bottom are less likely. PubMed Central, DOI, and PubMed links may offer direct access to the abstract and full text. Access to the full text on publisher websites may require an additional search.
