Limits of search filter development.

OBJECTIVE: The research attempted to develop search filters for biomedical literature databases that improve retrieval of studies of clinical relevance for the nursing and rehabilitation professions. METHODS: Diagnostic testing framework compared machine-culled and practitioner-nominated search terms with a hand-tagged clinical literature database. RESULTS: We were unable to: (1) develop filters for nursing, likely because of the overlapping and expanding scope of practice for nurses in comparison with medical professionals, or (2) develop filters for rehabilitation, because of its broad scope and the profession's multifaceted understanding of "health and ability." CONCLUSIONS: We found limitations on search filter development for these health professions: nursing and rehabilitation.