A short handout describing Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

1. Understanding Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) are a powerful tool for searching Medline, the premier database of biomedical
literature. Indexers read each article and apply the headings that describe the intellectual content of the article.
When you search using a MeSH heading you are searching for articles that have had that MeSH applied to it. Bellow
is an example article from Medline and some of the MeSH that have been applied to describe it’s content. The box-
es around the article show some of the MeSH and their definitions (as found in the scope note).
Smoking Neoplasms
Inhaling and exhaling the smoke of burning New abnormal growth of tissue. Malig-
TOBACCO. nant neoplasms show a greater degree of
anaplasia and have the properties of invasion
BMJ. 2004 Jun 26;328(7455):1519. Epub 2004 Jun 22.
Adult
Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years' ob-
A person having servations on male British doctors.
attained full growth or Doll R, Peto R, Boreham J, Sutherland I.
maturity. Adults are of Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU), Radcliffe
Infirmary, Oxford OX2 6HE.
19 through 44 years of OBJECTIVE: To compare the hazards of cigarette smoking in men who formed their
habits at different periods, and the extent of the reduction in risk when ciga- When you
age. For a person be- rette smoking is stopped at different ages.
search using
tween 19 and 24 years RESULTS: The excess mortality associated with smoking chiefly involved vascular,
neoplastic, and respiratory diseases that can be caused by smoking. Men born in keywords, you
of age, YOUNG ADULT is 1900-1930 who smoked only cigarettes and continued smoking died on average about
10 years younger than lifelong non-smokers. Cessation at age 60, 50, 40, or 30 are (usually)
available. years gained, respectively, about 3, 6, 9, or 10 years of life expectancy. The
excess mortality associated with cigarette smoking was less for men born in the
19th century and was greatest for men born in the 1920s. The cigarette smoker
searching the
versus non-smoker probabilities of dying in middle age (35-69) were 42% nu 24% (a words in the
twofold death rate ratio) for those born in 1900-1909, but were 43% nu 15% (a
threefold death rate ratio) for those born in the 1920s. At older ages, the ciga-
rette smoker versus non-smoker probabilities of surviving from age 70 to 90 were title and ab-
10% nu 12% at the death rates of the 1950s (that is, among men born around the
Humans 1870s) but were 7% nu 33% (again a threefold death rate ratio) at the death rates stract only.
of the 1990s (that is, among men born around the 1910s).
Members of the species CONCLUSION: A substantial progressive decrease in the mortality rates among non-
smokers over the past half century (due to prevention and improved treatment of
Homo sapiens. disease) has been wholly outweighed, among cigarette smokers, by a progressive
increase in the smoker nu non-smoker death rate ratio due to earlier and more
intensive use of cigarettes. Among the men born around 1920, prolonged cigarette
smoking from early adult life tripled age specific mortality rates, but cessation
at age 50 halved the hazard, and cessation at age 30 avoided almost all of it.
Prospective Studies PMID: 15213107 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
MeSH Terms
Observation of a popu-
Adult
lation for a sufficient
Age Distribution
number of persons over Aged These are the MeSH
Aged, 80 and over
a sufficient number of Cause of Death headings that have
Epidemiologic Methods
years to generate inci- been applied to this
Great Britain/epidemiology
dence or mortality rates Humans article. When you
Lung Neoplasms/mortality
subsequent to the se- Male search using MeSH
Middle Aged
lection of the study this is what you are
Mortality/trends
group. Neoplasms/etiology searching.
Neoplasms/mortality*
Physicians/statistics & numerical data*
Prospective Studies
Smoking/mortality*
Smoking Cessation/statistics & numerical data*
Franklin Sayre, UBC Library, franklin.sayre@ubc.ca

2. Understanding Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): Example
When using MeSH it’s important to pay attention to the Scope Note and where the term is located in the MeSH
Tree. Bellow is an example of two MeSH entries that sound similar but represent very different concepts and there-
fore retrieve very different results.
Scope Notes:
The Scope Note tells you about the definition, history (including when the term was introduced and any previous in-
dexing), Entry Terms, related MeSH, and where it is located in the MeSH Tree (hierarchy).
MeSH Heading: Pregnant Women MeSH Heading: Pregnancy
Scope Note: Human females who are pregnant, as cultural, Scope Note: The status during which female mammals car-
psychological, or sociological entities. ry their developing young ( EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero
before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.
Entry Term: Pregnant Woman
Entry Term: Gestation
Entry Term: Women, Pregnant
Year introduced: 1963
Previous Indexing: Pregnancy (1966-2002)
Location within the MeSH Tree:
MeSH are organized in a hierarchical tree structure, with broad concepts at the top level and more specific concepts
bellow. Bellow is the broadest level of the tree along with two examples of more specific MeSH concepts.
Persons Phenomena and Processes
Women Reproductive and Urinary Physiological Phenomena
Battered Women Reproductive Physiological Phenomena
Dentists, Women Reproductive Physiological Processes
Physicians, Women Reproduction
Pregnant Women Pollination
... Pregnancy
...
Example Articles:
Title: Attitudes of pregnant women towards participation in peri- Title: Immediate compared with delayed pushing in the second
natal epidemiological research. stage of labor: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Abstract: We assessed attitudes of a multi-ethnic sample Abstract: To estimate whether immediate or delayed pushing in
of pregnant women in regard to participation in five data collec- the second stage of labor optimizes spontaneous vaginal delivery
tion procedures planned for use in the National Children's Study… and other perinatal outcomes…
MeSH Terms: MeSH Terms:
Adult Cesarean Section/statistics & numerical data
Attitude to Health/ethnology Delivery, Obstetric/methods*
Delivery, Obstetric/statistics & numerical data
...
Extraction, Obstetrical/statistics & numerical data
Pregnant Women/psychology* ...
Prenatal Care. Parturition
Pregnancy
Franklin Sayre, UBC Library, franklin.sayre@ubc.ca