Database Searching for PICO Question: HIIT and Cardiovascular Fitness

This article discusses how to search for peer-reviewed journals on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and its effect on cardiovascular fitness in adult males using CINAHL database. It includes a case study, choice of keywords, technique of searching, and alternative search options. The article also answers some common questions related to PICO question framing, user-friendliness, and accessibility of the database.

Running head: DATABASE SEARCHING
Database Searching
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1DATABASE SEARCHING
Answer to PICO Question
CINAHL complete was the most effective database to search. As I was able to start with an
advanced search specifying terms: “Male”* AND “High Intensity Interval Training” AND Non-
High Intensity Interval Training*. 41 results were available. I was then able to limit it further by
changing the published date: 2010-2018. 32 results. Limiting the source type to academic
journals gave 14 results. Then lastly refining the subject’s major heading to relate to
cardiovascular system physiology and risk factors and physical fitness limited the search to 1
specific journal related to our clinical question.

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Case study
 According to the given case study, an adult male leads a sedentary life but is currently
focused on improving his cardiovascular fitness
 His friends and he were having a discussion about High Intensity Interval training (HIIT)
and how it helps with the concerning issue.
 This sparked interest in Koa to try out the new technique, but he wasn’t completely aware
of the topic
 He wanted to gather as much information as possible before trying this new technique
 Koa wanted to conduct peer reviewed journals to find out more about HIIT.
 He formulated a PICO question
 Koa chose CINAHL as his choice of database
Choice of Keywords
P (problem/population) – Adult male
I (intervention) - High Intensity Interval Training
C (comparison) - No High Intensity Interval training
O (outcome) - improved cardiovascular Fitness
From this the PICO question is-
“ Does high intensity interval training improve the cardiovascular fitness in adult male?”
Choice of Database
 CINAHL is the client database of the EBSCO information services, which is the third
largest information based company in Alabama, United States.
 CINAHL is the best available definitive search tools for nursing and other health related
professional use.
 If a user has an access to CINAHL Complete, full text peer reviewed research journals
can be obtained.

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 Along with research journals, evidence based care sheets, lecture notes and study
materials can be found.
 CINAHL Complete gives users access to fifty different kinds of nursing specialties with
related to language and speech impediments, nutritive requirements, health as well as
general medicine.
 CINAHL gained recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s
Accreditation Program as well as International Association for Continuing Education and
Training (IACET).
 CINAHL is very much compatible with the EBSCO point-of-care database searching.
 The asterisk (*) is used in many databases for truncation which is generally the root
term one needs to search. Wildcards - can usually be used at the end of a word or within
a word. The pound symbol (#) is used in many databases as a wildcard.
Technique or Searching
Keyword Searching:
With respect to the topic the choice of keywords were framed keeping the PICO questions in
mind-
Search1- Male

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Search2- High Intensity Interval Training
Search3- Non-high intensity interval training.
The search type for this assignment was kept “all terms”, an alternative is “Boolean/Phrase”,
which combines the keywords with “AND”, “OR” and “NOT” making it more specific and
restricting unrelated topics.
Continued…
Notes
The results showed 41 peer reviewed journals, most of which were full text. The database allows
the user to set a timeline from the publication for which the selected timeline was 2010-2018.
This result further enhanced and concise the search to 32 peer reviewed journals. The choice for
the search was further limited to only academic journals which was then further limited to 14

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journals. Further, by limiting the Subject matter to Koa’s issue of cardiovascular system
Physiology, 1 journal was selected completely specific to the topic- “Moderate and heavy
metabolic stress interval training improve arterial stiffness and heart rate dynamics in humans”
(Rakobowchuk et al., 2013)
This was the nest match because it contain major heading as “cardiovascular diseases”, the
selected age group is appropriate – 19-44 male, and is related to the topic to be described
addressing the PICO question.
Alternative Search Option
By putting in the search Male* High intensity interval training* cardiovascular physiology, 36
options of database showed up. The date of issue was set from 2010 onwards which limited the
search to 33 journals and further limiting the search to academic journals only, 18 results showed

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up which can be studied. The search was further limited with selecting “physical exercise” as a
major heading, which then gave 4 options out of which the first two options seemed extremely
relevant to the search-
“Is Moderate Intensity Exercise Training Combined with High Intensity Interval Training
MoreEffectiveatImprovingCardiorespiratoryFitnessthanModerate Intensity Exercise Training Al
one?” (Roxburgh et al., 2014)
And
“A Review of Adolescent High-Intensity Interval Training” (Logan et al., 2014)
Both these papers address the PICO question.

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Any question?
 Do you the PICO question was properly framed?
 Do you think CINAHL is a helpful database?
 Is it user friendly?
 Does it specify the search option according to the issue?
 Can non-professionals benefit from the database?

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References:
Logan, G. R., Harris, N., Duncan, S., & Schofield, G. (2014). A review of adolescent high-
intensity interval training. Sports Medicine, 44(8), 1071-1085.
Rakobowchuk, M., Harris, E., Taylor, A., Cubbon, R. M., & Birch, K. M. (2013). Moderate and
heavy metabolic stress interval training improve arterial stiffness and heart rate dynamics
in humans. European journal of applied physiology, 113(4), 839-849.
Roxburgh, B. H., Nolan, P. B., Weatherwax, R. M., & Dalleck, L. C. (2014). Is moderate
intensity exercise training combined with high intensity interval training more effective at
improving cardiorespiratory fitness than moderate intensity exercise training
alone?. Journal of sports science & medicine, 13(3), 702.