Profile of Journal of Dentistry for Children and Pediatric Dentistry journal articles by evidence typology: thirty-year time trends (1969-1998) and implications.

PURPOSE

This study was performed to assess the profile of Journal of Dentistry for Children and Pediatric Dentistry journal articles by evidence typology and measure their changes over a thirty-year period (1969-1998).

METHODS

All issues of both journals during the study period (1969-98) were manually reviewed. The publications were ranked by the quality of the evidence. Editorials, letters to the editor, abstracts, and organization-related communications were excluded from consideration. The publications were analyzed by journal and also by decade of publication, i.e., 1969-78, 1979-88 or 1989-98.

RESULTS

There were 2848 publications included in the data set with descriptive studies, case reports, etc. comprising the majority (71%). No distinctive trends in the evidence typology were detected over the decades in either journal.

CONCLUSION

There is a need to improve the quality of the evidence in the two pediatric dental journals reviewed.