Sharma Sandeep, Harrison Jayne E
Saltaire Orthodontics, Bradford, United Kingdom.
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2006 Oct;130(4):523-30. doi: 10.1016/j.ajodo.2005.10.023.
This retrospective observational study was designed to assess the impact on quality of changing from unstructured to structured abstract format. Six dental journals, 3 that adopted structured abstracts and 3 with unstructured abstracts, were used.
One hundred abstracts from original articles, published between January 1995 and December 1998, were selected from each journal. A 29-question checklist was developed and used to assess the quality of the information in the abstracts.
The mean score for abstracts published in all journal was 53.9% (SD 11.5; 95% CI 52.8%, 54.8%). There was no statistically significant difference between the scores of the first 50 abstracts and the second 50 abstracts from any journals with unstructured abstracts (P = .19-.80). The mean score of the second 50 abstracts from journals that adopted the structured abstract format was significantly higher than scores from journals with unchanged formats (P < or =.001).
Structured abstracts provide higher-quality information. Journal editors should be encouraged to use a structured abstract format.
本回顾性观察性研究旨在评估从非结构化摘要格式转变为结构化摘要格式对质量的影响。研究使用了6种牙科期刊，其中3种采用结构化摘要，3种采用非结构化摘要。
从每种期刊中选取1995年1月至1998年12月发表的原创文章的100篇摘要。编制了一份包含29个问题的清单，并用于评估摘要中信息的质量。
所有期刊发表的摘要的平均得分是53.9%（标准差11.5；95%置信区间52.8%，54.8%）。对于任何采用非结构化摘要的期刊，前50篇摘要和后50篇摘要的得分之间没有统计学上的显著差异（P = 0.19 - 0.80）。采用结构化摘要格式的期刊中后50篇摘要的平均得分显著高于格式未改变的期刊（P≤0.001）。
结构化摘要提供了更高质量的信息。应鼓励期刊编辑采用结构化摘要格式。
