Publication rate of abstracts presented at the Congress of the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT)

Background: The publication rate of presented abstracts is an important parameter to assess the scientific quality of medical congresses. It has been investigated for many congresses in orthopaedics and traumatology, but until now, it has not been studied for the congress of the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT). The aims of this study were to determine: (1) the publication rate of the EFORT congress, (2) factors that favour publication of abstracts presented at the EFORT congress, (3) the consistency between the congress abstract and publication in relation to authorship. Hypothesis: There are factors that favour publication of abstracts presented at the EFORT congress and there is a high consistency between the congress abstract and publication in relation to authorship. Materials and methods: All 1624 abstracts presented at the EFORT congress in 2011 were included in this study, to allow a 5-year period for publication after the congress. The characteristics of the abstracts presented were studied and the publication rate in peer-reviewed journals was determined using a Medline search. Results: The publication rate for studies presented at the 2011 EFORT congress was 42% (677/1624 abstracts), with a mean of 16 months (-56 to 60 months) between congress and publication. The mean impact factor of the publications was 1.8 (0-7.6). A significantly higher publication rate was found for: oral presentations (52%; 322/617) versus posters (35%; 355/1007) (p < 0.01), experimental studies (53%; 110/208) versus clinical studies (40%; 507/1254) (p < 0.01), and studies with higher levels of evidence of I or II (59%; 144/244) versus studies with lower levels of evidence of III or IV (36%; 362/1005) (p < 0.01). A new author was added in 59% (403/677) of the publications. Discussion: Factors that favour publication of abstracts presented at the EFORT congress are oral presentation, experimental study, and a study with a higher level of evidence of I or II. It is common that a new author is added in the publication. Nevertheless, a high percentage of congress abstracts (58%; 947/1624) remains unpublished. (C) 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.