PICO Linguist and BabelMeSH: development and partial evaluation of evidence-based multilanguage search tools for MEDLINE/PubMed.

PICO Linguist and BabelMeSH are multilanguage search tools intended for users whose native language is not English. A database of medical terms was created using concept identification equivalents of English terms to other languages. The primary sources of vocabularies were UMLS, MeSH, WHO EMRO and UMLF. The search interface changes according to the language selected which allows search terms to be entered in the native language. The user can limit the search output according to the language of publication but citations retrieved are in English only. Links may be provided to journals if published online. Evaluation of the French and Spanish versions using journal key words and a list of common diseases showed 77.5% and 86.5% accuracy respectively. User feedback was positive. PICO Linguist and BabelMeSH could be useful and convenient tools in finding current evidence sources in the medical literature especially for non-English medical terms that may be difficult to express in English.