LibGuides: CINAHL (English): 3. Combining your search

Combining PICO elements / building blocks

Following the building block method, work out each of your building blocks individually: find relevant CINAHL Headings and add then your own free search terms. This way, you usually create between three to five searches, depending on the number of building blocks in your (research) query. At the end, you merge these: this is boolean searching with AND.

Building blocks: Example

To start, you have placed one or more relevant CINAHL Headings in the Advanced Search engine. If necessary, specify which search fields you want to search in. Complete with (your own) free search terms.

Tip: It can be useful to search by Title and Abstract.

Build your first building block according to this example. Combine your search terms with OR. Choose Search.
Click New Search and build your second building block according to step 1. Choose Search.
Once you have searched all your building blocks, choose Search History (in the menu at the left).

Combining your building blocks

Now that you have searched CINAHL with each of the building blocks, you are going to merge these. To do this, first Clear the query box and then go to Recent activity.

► Here you will find your previous searches. Check whether these led to a result.
► Each search has a Search number.

Select the search lines you want to combine. Then select Combine with AND (or Combineren met AND).