Publication Rates of Abstracts Presented at Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America Meetings Between 2013 and 2016

Abstract

Background: Academic conferences such as the annual Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) meeting provide opportunities to present up-to-date scientific work that can influence clinical decision making. This study reviewed 4 years of abstracts presented at POSNA to assess trends in poster and podium presentation publication rates and associated metrics and the impact of academic presentations on the pediatric orthopaedic literature. Methods: All abstracts presented at POSNA annual meetings from 2013 to 2016 were analyzed for presentation type, subspeciality, level of evidence, study design, peer-reviewed publication within 4 years of presentation, 1-year publication rates, journal impact factors, number of authors, and citations of the final publication. χ², analysis of variance, and t tests were conducted to measure independence of variables. Statistical significance was indicated at PPP=0.69) or level of evidence (P=0.95) for podium presentations. The Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics accepted the most abstracts, 38.4% overall, with 64.1% of acceptances resulting from podium presentations and no difference in time to publication based on subspecialty. Conclusions: The overall publication rate for POSNA abstracts has increased 8.7% from prior analysis. Podium presentations are more likely than poster presentations to be published, overall and in higher-impact journals, and are cited more frequently. Level of Evidence: Level IV—descriptive retrospective epidemiological study.