Highlights
- •The number of rehabilitation publications over the past 16 years has risen linearly.
- •Publications with a high level of evidence showed a larger multiplication factor.
- •Publications with a low level of evidence showed a lower multiplication factor.
- •Similar trends were found for the adult and the pediatric rehabilitation literature.
Abstract
Objectives
To test the hypothesis that the number of publications in the field of physical medicine
and rehabilitation (PMR) has increased over the last 16 years in a linear fashion,
and to compare the trends in publication between the pediatric and adult literature.
Design
We evaluated all MEDLINE articles from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2013, using
Medical Subject Headings categories of rehabilitation. An age filter separated adult
and pediatric articles. We divided articles into those with a low level of scientific
evidence such as letters and editorials, and those with a high level of evidence such
as controlled trials and meta-analyses. We used regression analysis to evaluate the
effect of the year of publication on the number of publications of each type.
Setting
Not applicable.
Participants
Not applicable.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Not applicable.
Results
MEDLINE reported a total of 98,501 adult publications and 30,895 pediatric publications
during the evaluated period. There was a significant linear increase in the total
number of publications in adult and pediatric rehabilitation publications with multiplication
factors of 3.3 and 2.9, respectively. Importantly, publications with a high level
of evidence showed larger multiplication factors compared with those with a low level
of evidence (5.5 and 5.1 vs 2.1 and 2.0) for the adult and pediatric literature.
Conclusions
The number of publications in the PMR field, especially those with a high level of
scientific evidence, has increased linearly over the years, reflecting the rapid evolution
of both adult and pediatric PMR.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CT (clinical trial), MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), PMR (physical medicine and rehabilitation), RCT (randomized controlled trial)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 14, 2015
Footnotes
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
