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How do I use Boolean terms (AND, OR, NOT) in quick search?
Last updated on July 28, 2025Boolean search terms can be used when performing a Quick Search to specify more than one constraint at a time.
- Boolean Operators are not case sensitive
- When using the NOT operator you must put an AND before the NOT
- Parentheses are needed in some cases (see below for an example)
A tutorial video on how to use Boolean operators in quick search can be found here
The following examples illustrate the type of results you can expect to retrieve using various operators and parentheses. (The number of hits you retrieve is dependent upon which modules you license. The following results were retrieved on August 8, 2017 using all PharmaPendium sources, and synonyms were included).
AND | OR | AND NOT | Parentheses | Query | Number of Hits |
|
|
|
| smoking-cessation | 948 |
x |
|
|
| smoking-cessation and nicotine | 404 |
xx |
|
|
| smoking-cessation and nicotine and antidepressant | 179 |
x |
x |
|
| smoking-cessation and nicotine or antidepressant | 458 |
x |
x |
|
x (not needed in this case) | smoking-cessation and (nicotine or antidepressant) | 458 |
x | x |
| x | (smoking-cessation and nicotine) or antidepressant | 4279 |
|
|
|
| smoking-cessation not nicotine | error (no results) |
|
|
x |
| smoking cessation and not nicotine | 544 |
x |
|
x |
| smoking-cessation and nicotine and not antidepressant | 225 |
x |
|
x | x (not needed in this case) | (smoking-cessation and nicotine) and not antidepressant | 225 |
Information on how to use Boolean operators in drug safety data searching can be found here
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