Answered By: Adele Georgievski
Last Updated: Oct 07, 2025     Views: 803

What is MeSH?

MeSH stands for Medical Subject Headings, and is made up of specific terms used to describe health-related words and phrases. Using MeSH (when it's an available option) instead of just using keywords will allow you to discover the officially preferred word or phrasing, and locate more specific, relevant results. 

Here's a more complete definition, from the library who produces MeSH:

"The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus is a controlled and hierarchically-organized vocabulary produced by the National Library of Medicine. It is used for indexing, cataloging, and searching of biomedical and health-related information. MeSH includes the subject headings appearing in MEDLINE/PubMed, the NLM Catalog, and other NLM databases". (source: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html) 

 

What databases have MeSH?

Database Subject Headings How to Get Started
PubMed MeSH Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click MeSH
PubMed Central MeSH Click on the User Guide icon, then do a Ctrl+F to find "NLM MeSH browser" (Video tutorial for once you're at the MeSH Database)
CINAHL CINAHL headings
(based on MeSH)		 Click on CINAHL Headings under the search boxes and search for a term.
Nursing and Allied
 Health Premium		 Thesaurus Start at the Advanced Search page, click Thesaurus
Cochrane Reviews 
(Cochrane Library)		 MeSH Start at the Advanced Search page, search for a term
Medline MeSH Click "Medline -- MeSH 2025" under the search boxes and search for a term

 

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