Scopus is a large, interdisciplinary databases suitable for all research topics. As SDOH research often crosses domains into the social sciences, Scopus can be great for getting to literature that won't be found in medical databases like PubMed.
Health policy reference center is a specialized database focusing on topics such as public health, healthcare access, healthcare administration, and more.
PsycINFO is the go-to database for psychological topics. As SDOH research can often cross over into psychological topics, PsycINFO is a great resource for certain SDOH topics.
Still OneSearch is a convenient tool that allows you to search many of our databases at once. All of the databases listed above except for Scopus are included. While it is not as thorough as searching databases individually, it can be great for searching lots of sources quickly.
SDOH Literature Searching Tips
Broad v Narrow Topics
Social determinants of health is an umbrella term referring to many interrelated aspects such as healthcare access, socioeconomic status, environmental health, and more.
When searching for SDOH literature, you may want to search for the term broadly, and/or focus on a particular aspect
Example keywords for searching broadly: "Social determinants of health", "SDOH", "health equity", "healthcare disparity", etc
Example keywords for searching narrowly: "socioeconomic status", "poverty", "educational levels", "healthcare access", etc
Advanced Search Techniques
To get a good search, consider using some of the advanced techniques shown below
Truncation: Put * at the end of a phrase/word/root word, and the database will fill in the rest on its own
Example: searching for "health equit*" will search for both health equity and health equities
Phrase searching: Whenever you are searching for a phrase, like "Social Determinants of Health", be sure to wrap the phrase in double quotes "", or the database will search for the words individually
Use boolean operators to structure your search
AND is used to identify articles that address two (or more) topics
OR is used to tie together synonyms and broaden your search
Parentheses can be used to group together keywords
Example: ("physician assistant" OR "nurse") AND ("social determinants of health" OR "health equity")
Using Synonyms
A good search will include synonyms for a topic to get comprehensive results, such as searching for "social determinants of health" OR "health equity" OR "healthcare disparities"
Term Suggestions
There are many terms related to SDOH that can be used in searching, some of which require a little bit of finesse to use well
For example, you may want to search for both "health equity" and "health inequity". These terms may return different results, and must be searched separately to get all those results
Oftentimes, you will want to search for "healthcare", such as in "healthcare access" or "health disparities". Note that researchers often use both healthcare (one word) and health care (two words) interchangeably. To get a comprehensive search, you may want to search for both variations.
Focus Your Search
Databases will allow you to search for keywords in specific places.
It is usually best to search for keywords in the titles and abstracts of articles, to get a focused search and avoid too many unwanted results
Look for dropdown menus or advanced search features in databases that will allow you to focus your search on titles and abstracts
