AO Foundation, Davos, Switzerland.
Winterthur Institute of Health Economics, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland.
Injury. 2019 Nov;50(11):1868-1875. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2019.07.016. Epub 2019 Sep 11.
Sixty years ago, the Association of Osteosynthesis (AO) was founded with the aim to improve fracture treatment and has since grown into one of the largest medical associations worldwide. Aim of this study was to evaluate AO's impact on science, education, patient care and the MedTech business.
DESIGN/METHODS: Impact evaluations were conducted as appropriate for the individual domains: Impact on science was measured by analyzing citation frequencies of publications promoted by AO. Impact on education was evaluated by analyzing the evolution of number and location of AO courses. Impact on patient care was evaluated with a health economic model analyzing cost changes and years of life gained through the introduction of osteosynthesis in 17 high-income countries (HICs). Impact on MedTech business was evaluated by analyzing sales data of AO-associated products.
Thirty-five AO papers and 2 major AO textbooks are cited at remarkable frequencies in high ranking journals with up to 2000 citations/year. The number of AO courses steadily increased with a total of 645'000 participants, 20'000 teaching days and 2'500 volunteer faculty members so far. The introduction of osteosynthesis saved at least 925 billion Swiss Francs [CHF] in the 17 HICs analyzed and had an impact on avoiding premature deaths comparable to the use of antihypertensive drugs. AO-associated products generated sales of 55 billion CHF.
AO's impact on science, education, patient care, and the MedTech business was significant because AO addressed hitherto unmet needs by combining activities that mutually enriched and reinforced each other.
60 年前，AO 协会成立，旨在改善骨折治疗，并自此发展成为全球最大的医学协会之一。本研究旨在评估 AO 对科学、教育、患者护理和医疗技术业务的影响。
设计/方法：针对各个领域进行了适当的影响评估：通过分析 AO 推广出版物的引用频率来衡量对科学的影响。通过分析 AO 课程数量和地点的演变来评估对教育的影响。通过分析在 17 个高收入国家（HICs）中引入内固定术导致的成本变化和获得的生命年数的健康经济模型来评估对患者护理的影响。通过分析与 AO 相关产品的销售数据来评估对医疗技术业务的影响。
35 篇 AO 论文和 2 本主要的 AO 教科书在高排名期刊中以显著的频率被引用，最高引用率可达每年 2000 次。AO 课程的数量稳步增加，迄今为止已有 645000 名参与者、20000 个教学日和 2500 名志愿教师。在分析的 17 个 HICs 中，引入内固定术至少节省了 9250 亿瑞士法郎（CHF），并且对避免过早死亡的影响与使用抗高血压药物相当。与 AO 相关的产品销售额达到了 550 亿瑞士法郎。
AO 对科学、教育、患者护理和医疗技术业务的影响是显著的，因为它通过结合相互丰富和增强的活动来满足迄今未满足的需求。
