Osteoarthritis Treatment: A CINAHL Database Search

This assignment focuses on researching the efficacy of fish oil as a treatment for osteoarthritis. Using the CINAHL database, two relevant articles are identified and analyzed. The findings from these articles suggest that both low-dose and high-dose fish oil can effectively reduce inflammation in osteoarthritis patients over 40 years old. The summary highlights the process of conducting a literature review within a specific database to answer a clinical question about a common health condition.

Running head: FISH OIL IN CANCEER PREVENTION
FISH OIL IN CANCEER PREVENTION
Name if the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
FISH OIL IN CANCEER PREVENTION
Introduction:
The constituents of the fish oil are believed by many to be a curer of osteoarthritis and therefore
it is used by many as an alternative medicine to get relief form symptoms of osteoarthritis.
Therefore, the patient in the case study has come to healthcare professional to be sure of this
medication. The healthcare professional has to use a proper database to search for its evidence
which should be authentic and therefore be helpful for advising the patient with the medication.
Depending upon the clinical question, the healthcare professional has to conduct a proper
search so that he can get the right articles which would help him or her to answer the query of the
patient. At first he or she needs to apply proper key words in the search boxes. The following
table can be used:
Key words/search
terms/phrases
Alternative words/spelling
P Old women with
osteoarthritis
Old women affected by
osteoarthritis, older women
living with osteoarthritis,
aged women with
osteoarthritis, Older women
suffering from osteoarthritis
I Use of fish oil Intake of fish oil capsules,
taking of fish oil containing
omega 3 fatty acids

2
FISH OIL IN CANCEER PREVENTION
C Old women who does not use
fish oil as an interventions
Aged women who do not
take fish oil, old women who
are ignorant, old women who
do not take fish oil
O Reduction in pain Reduction of inflammation,
increase of quality living,
proper
There are many databases that healthcare professionals can use for finding the answers of
Pico question through evidence based searches. The first database that can be used to find fruitful
results of the selected clinical questions is the Cochrane Reviews. It is named after Archie
Cochrane and is a renowned database which is handled by healthcare specialties provided by
Cochrane and other organizations. It is actually a database which mainly contains the systematic
reviews as well as meta-analysis which ultimately help the healthcare professional to summarize
and interpret the results of the medical researchers (Beckles et al., 2013). Besides, it also
contains papers of well conducted trails which acts as the key source of evidence based medicine
and evidence based practices for healthcare professionals. Another database that can also be used
is the Cinahl database which actually has the full name of Cumulative Index to Nursing and
Allied Health Literature. The database is one of the most widely used as well as respected
research tool for nursing professionals and students along with other health professionals. This is
their first choice whenever they have to search evidence for their clinical questions (Butler, Hall
& Copnell, 2016). They have journal articles which are mainly based on a variety of subjects like

3
FISH OIL IN CANCEER PREVENTION
medicine, nursing technologies, betterment of treatments and many others in healthcare domains.
The papers are authentic and provide the work of some of the renowned researchers of the world
whose work is held a very high value in modern day healthcare. The main database selected for
this study would be Cinahl.
Actions Search mode Results Limiters (or
expanders)
S1 Fish oil AND
osteoarthritis
AND – Boolean
operation
15 Limiters – Englsih
language, 2009-2017
Expander – all text
S2 Fish oil use IN
Arthritis patient
IN - truncation
09 Limiters – Englsih
language, 2009-2017
Expander – all text
S3 Fish oil for treatment
IN old arthritis
patient
IN - truncation
02 Limiters – Englsih
language, 2009-2017
Expander – all text
S4 Fish oil /arthritis /old
people
02 Limiters – Englsih
language, 2009-2017

4
FISH OIL IN CANCEER PREVENTION
Wild card- / Expander – all text
S5 Old women suffering
from osteoarthritis
with fish oil
Truncation- from,
with
0 Limiters – Englsih
language, 2009-2017
Expander – all text
S6 Fish oil, arthritis, old
people
11 Limiters – Englsih
language, 2009-2017
Expander – all text
On conducting the researches, it was seen that at first a larger number of articles were
found out of which were not correctly addressing the questions set in Pico format. With the use
of correct limiters, expanders, Boolean operations and truncations, the work was made much
easier. The articles which ultimately came in the later searches helped more significance and out
of which the two most important articles were considered for the study. The two of the most
credible sources that were selected are as follows:
Zawadzki, M., Janosch, C., & Szechinski, J. (2013). Perna canaliculus lipid complex PCSO-
524™ demonstrated pain relief for osteoarthritis patients benchmarked against fish oil, a
randomized trial, without placebo control. Marine drugs, 11(6), 1920-1935.
Authors of this paper namely Zawadsi, Janosch and Szechinski (2013) have declared that fish oil
contains a compound called the PCSO-524 are effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis and

5
FISH OIL IN CANCEER PREVENTION
unlike non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics, they do not have any
side effects. They are effective in both genders and are helpful in reducing pain, increasing
mobility and development of better quality life.
Hill, C. L., March, L. M., Aitken, D., Lester, S. E., Battersby, R., Hynes, K., ... & Jones, G.
(2015). Fish oil in knee osteoarthritis: a randomised clinical trial of low dose versus high
dose. Annals of the rheumatic diseases, annrheumdis-2014.
This study had suggested that both low dose as well as high dose of fish oil were very much
effective in reduction of inflammation in case of the osteoarthritis patients who are aged that is
above 40 ages. Moreover they also suggested that high doses did not provide an additional
benefit to that of the low dose application of fish oil.
Conclusion:
Searching the Cinahl database helped us to obtain two very good authentic articles whose
results helped to solve the query of Peggy successfully and provide the best advice to her. This
medication is believed to bring positive result in her health condition and she can undertake
capsules to get the best benefits.