Incomplete evidence: the inadequacy of databases in tracing published adverse drug reactions in clinical trials

Table 4 Indexing for Adverse Effects in EMBASE

Drug	Records	Indexed	Terms used
(no. of reports)	available	for AE	[frequency]
Aspirin	30	16	Adverse-reactions-titles [13]
(37)			Bleeding-SE [8]
			GI-hemorrhage-SE [5]
			Adverse-drug-reaction [4]
			Antithrombotic-agent-ADR [2]
			ASA-ADR [10], ASA-SE [1]
			Hematemesis-SE [1], Melena-SE [1]
			Stomach-hemorrhage-SE [1]
Antihypertensive drugs	9	3	Adverse-drug-reaction [3]
(13)			Adverse-reactions-titles [1]
Ibuprofen	26	13	Adverse-reactions-titles [12]
(29)			Specific symptom^*-SE [9]
			Ibuprofen-ADR [8]
			Adverse-drug-reaction [3]
			Analgesic-agent-ADR [1]
			Drug-safety [1]
			Drug-tolerability [1]
			Nonsteroidal-antiinflammatory-agent-AE [1]
			Side effect [1]
Paracetamol	23	11	Adverse-drug-reactions-titles [10]
(32)			Adverse-drug-reaction [8]
			Paracetamol-ADR [2]
			Specific symptom^*-SE [2]
			Drug-safety [1]