Major Orthopaedic Conference Abstract Publication: An Analysis of Abstracts Accepted for the AAOS Annual Meetings Between 2014 and 2017.

INTRODUCTION

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for clinicians to attain the most recent advancements in the orthopaedic field. However, the most recent study analyzing publication rates from the 2001 Annual Meeting determined that only 49% of the podium and poster abstracts were eventually published. The purpose of this study was to determine the publication rate, likelihood of publication based on the presentation format, and time to publication for abstracts presented at the 2014 to 2017 AAOS Annual Meetings.

METHODS

We did a comprehensive search of PubMed and Google Scholar to determine whether abstracts presented in the podium, poster, and scientific exhibit formats from the 2014 to 2017 AAOS Annual Meetings were published in a peer-reviewed journal. Abstract title, authors, and keywords were used to query for publication status and date of publication.

RESULTS

We analyzed 5,902 abstracts from the 2014 to 2017 AAOS Annual Meetings. The overall publication rate for podium and poster presentations was 69.9%, with individual publication rates at 73.0% and 65.1%, respectively. A higher likelihood of publication in the podium format was noted with odds ratio 1.45 (P < 0.0001). Scientific exhibits displayed a publication rate of 46.9%. Most publications in all formats occurred within 2 years.

CONCLUSION

A large increase was noted in the quality of research being presented at the AAOS Annual Meeting. With 69.9% of podium and poster presentations from the 2014 to 2017 Annual Meetings being published in a peer-reviewed journal, clinicians can use the data presented as an up-to-date, adjunct source of guidance for their clinical practices.