How to use the medical subject headings (MeSH)

Summary Background A thorough understanding of the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings can increase the efficiency and precision of one's literature searching skills using the Medline database. Aims To describe how to use the Medical Subject Headings to conduct a search for literature, and how to write up a description of the search strategy. Materials and methods The author interprets National Library of Medicine documentation to describe Medical Subject Headings, and shares strategies from daily literature searching. Conclusion Knowing how to use Medical Subject Headings improves the efficiency and quality of one's literature searches.