Moawad Mostafa Hossam El Din, Mektebi Ammar, Rezkallah Ayoub, Fayad Taha, Sadeq Mohammed Ahmed, Negida Ahmed
Medical Research Group of Egypt, Cairo, Egypt.
Faculty of Pharmacy Clinical Department Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Brain Spine. 2023 May 9;3:101746. doi: 10.1016/j.bas.2023.101746. eCollection 2023.
Scientific research has a direct, profound impact on healthcare systems worldwide. While an upward trend can be observed in the number of produced papers in the neurosurgical specialty, disparities still exist between African neurosurgeons on one side and between African neurosurgeons and neurosurgeons from high income countries, on the other.
This study aims to analyze neurosurgical research produced in Africa to identify gaps in the literature and provide recommendations for aspiring African neurosurgeons for essential research areas.
Four electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase) were systematically searched for relevant articles on neurosurgery published by African authors. The three main inclusion criteria were: Articles published in the Neurosurgical field, articles published by African authors (whether first authors or co-authors) and articles published in Africa. Data extracted included the study design, scope, neurosurgical subspecialty, and the authors' nationalities.
A total of 982 articles were included in the analysis. Of these articles, 889 (90.6%) were primary, 48 (4.9%) secondary, and 44 (4.5%) other types of research. Global Neurosurgery papers represent 7% of African neurosurgery research output. Most common primary studies included retrospective cohort (32.4%), case reports (28.3%), and prospective cohort (13.8%) studies. The most common secondary research articles were literature reviews (4.9%), letters to the editor (1.2%), and systematic reviews and meta-analyses (0.8%). Common research areas were neuro-oncology 242 (24.7%), spinal surgery 157 (16%), and cerebrovascular (14%). The most common nationalities of the first authors were Egyptian (32.4%), Moroccan (15%), and Nigerian (14.2%).
This study identifies increased African authorship in neurosurgical research in recent years. Nevertheless, many countries still lack representation in the neurosurgical research scene.Furthermore, a high percentage of the published papers is of low evidence. Therefore, we recommend that African neurosurgical researchers focus more on clinical trials and systematic reviews that directly translate to improving clinical practice. African neurosurgeons should also consider more collaboration between African authors.
科学研究对全球医疗保健系统有着直接而深远的影响。虽然神经外科专业发表的论文数量呈上升趋势，但一方面非洲神经外科医生之间存在差距，另一方面非洲神经外科医生与高收入国家的神经外科医生之间也存在差距。
本研究旨在分析非洲开展的神经外科研究，以找出文献中的差距，并为有抱负的非洲神经外科医生提供重要研究领域的建议。
系统检索了四个电子数据库（PubMed、Scopus、科学网和Embase），以查找非洲作者发表的有关神经外科的相关文章。三个主要纳入标准为：发表在神经外科领域的文章、由非洲作者发表的文章（无论是第一作者还是共同作者）以及在非洲发表的文章。提取的数据包括研究设计、范围、神经外科学亚专业以及作者的国籍。
共有982篇文章纳入分析。其中，889篇（90.6%）为原创性研究，48篇（4.9%）为二次研究，44篇（4.5%）为其他类型研究。全球神经外科学论文占非洲神经外科研究产出的7%。最常见的原创性研究包括回顾性队列研究（32.4%）、病例报告（28.3%）和前瞻性队列研究（13.8%）。最常见的二次研究文章为文献综述（4.9%）、给编辑的信（1.2%）以及系统评价和荟萃分析（0.8%）。常见研究领域为神经肿瘤学242篇（24.7%）、脊柱外科157篇（16%）和脑血管病（14%）。第一作者最常见的国籍为埃及（32.4%）、摩洛哥（15%）和尼日利亚（14.2%）。
本研究发现近年来非洲作者在神经外科研究中的参与度有所提高。然而，许多国家在神经外科研究领域仍缺乏代表性。此外，已发表论文中有很大比例的证据水平较低。因此，我们建议非洲神经外科研究人员更多地关注直接转化为改善临床实践的临床试验和系统评价。非洲神经外科医生也应考虑非洲作者之间更多的合作。
