Publication Rate of Abstracts Presented at European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society Annual Meetings, 2006 to 2008

Background: The quality of the abstracts presented at a conference reflects the scientific work and level of activity of the scientific association concerned. The aim of the present study was to determine the rate of publications of podium presentations and posters at the conferences of the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (EPOS) from 2006 to 2008 and to identify factors that favor publication in peer-reviewed journals. The results are compared with those of other international societies. Methods: All 646 abstracts (including podiums, posters, and e-posters) presented at the EPOS conferences were investigated using the PubMed database to identify any corresponding published articles in the journals listed in the database. A period of 5 years before and after the relevant conference was used for the PubMed search. Factors influencing publication and the quality of the study, such as the type of presentation and the level of evidence, were also investigated. Results: A publication rate of 36.7% was observed, corresponding to 237 publications of 646 abstracts. The period to publication showed a mean of 13.88 +/- 1.34 months. It was found that abstracts of podium presentations were published significantly more often than poster abstracts (P < 0.001). Experimental studies, with a publication rate of 50.9%, showed better results than clinical studies (36.0%). Overall, the articles were published in 61 different journals, with the largest number (n = 50) appearing in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics. In addition, the present study shows that abstracts with a higher level of evidence were associated with a higher publication rate. Conclusions: At 36.7%, the rate of publication of EPOS abstracts is within the range reached by other specialist orthopaedics societies, such as the German Society of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery (36%) and the British Orthopaedic Association (36%). However, it is lower than the publication rate of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA), at 50%. The high percentage of unpublished conference abstracts (63%), which did not go through a peer-reviewed process, casts doubts upon the practice of utilizing the citation of abstracts based purely on conference abstracts.