Representation of Social Determinants of Health terminology in medical subject headings: impact of added terms

Abstract Objectives To enhance and evaluate the quality of PubMed search results for Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) through the addition of new SDoH terms to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Materials and Methods High priority SDoH terms and definitions were collated from authoritative sources, curated based on publication frequencies, and refined by subject matter experts. Descriptive analyses were used to investigate how PubMed search details and best match results were affected by the addition of SDoH concepts to MeSH. Three information retrieval metrics (Precision, Recall, and F measure) were used to quantitatively assess the accuracy of PubMed search results. Pre- and post-update documents were clustered into topic areas using a Natural Language Processing pipeline, and SDoH relevancy assessed. Results Addition of 35 SDoH terms to MeSH resulted in more accurate algorithmic translations of search terms and more reliable best match results. The Precision, Recall, and F measures of post-update results were significantly higher than those of pre-update results. The percentage of retrieved publications belonging to SDoH clusters was significantly greater in the post- than pre-update searches. Discussion This evaluation confirms that inclusion of new SDoH terms in MeSH can lead to qualitative and quantitative enhancements in PubMed search retrievals. It demonstrates the methodology for and impact of suggesting new terms for MeSH indexing. It provides a foundation for future efforts across behavioral and social science research (BSSR) domains. Conclusion Improving the representation of BSSR terminology in MeSH can improve PubMed search results, thereby enhancing the ability of investigators and clinicians to build and utilize a cumulative BSSR knowledge base.