Searching for randomised controlled trials and clinical controlled trials in Thai online bibliographical biomedical databases.

Background:  Thailand is a poor but highly literate country in South-East Asia with over 60 million people. A lot of biomedical research is undertaken but dissemination is limited. Objectives:  To identify relevant Thai bibliographic databases and investigate accessibility, functionality and content, particularly in relation to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical controlled trials (CCTs). Methods:  A systematic search for institutions productive of research and the databases in their libraries. Search each accessible database in both Thai and English, recording the functionality and content. Assess accessibility of the retrieved RCTs or CCTs by comparing to PubMed holdings. Results:  We found 32 different databases (29 accessible in UK) of various sizes, coverage and functionality but many with unique records of RCTs and CCTs (total, n = 781). Two hundred and nine of 781 trials were accessible on PubMed (27%). However, 641 of the 781 trial records contain text in both English and Thai (82%) and 112 records were solely English (14%). Conclusions:  Those undertaking comprehensive searches for RCTs/CCTs should, in addition to a PubMed, search the Thai Medical Index and Thai Index Medicus databases, and the Khon Kaen University Library Catalogue.