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. 2011 Feb;91(2):234-45.
doi: 10.2522/ptj.20100243. Epub 2010 Dec 17.

Full-text publication of abstract-presented work in physical therapy: do therapists publish what they preach?

Heather D Smith  1 , Elizabeth D Bogenschutz, Amy J Bayliss, Peter A Altenburger, Stuart J Warden
Affiliations

Full-text publication of abstract-presented work in physical therapy: do therapists publish what they preach?

Heather D Smith et al. Phys Ther. 2011 Feb.

Abstract

Background and objective: Professional meetings, such as the American Physical Therapy Association's (APTA's) Combined Sections Meeting (CSM), provide forums for sharing information relevant to physical therapy. An indicator of whether therapists fully disseminate their work is the number of full-text peer-reviewed publications that result. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the full-text publication rate of work presented in abstract form at CSM and (2) to investigate factors influencing this rate.

Methods: A systematic search was undertaken to locate full-text publications of work presented in abstract form within the Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy sections at CSM between 2000 and 2004. Eligible publications were published within 5 years following abstract presentation. The influences of APTA section, year of abstract presentation, institution of origin, study design, sample size, study significance, reporting of a funding source, and presentation type on full-text publication rate were assessed. Characteristics of full-text publications were explored.

Results: Work presented in 1 out of 4 abstracts (25.4%) progressed to full-text publication. Odds of full-text publication increased if the abstract originated from a doctorate-granting or "other" institution, reported findings of an experimental study, reported a statistically significant finding, included a larger sample size, disclosed a funding source, or was presented as a platform presentation. More than one third (37.8%) of full-text publications were published in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy or Physical Therapy, and 4 out of 10 full-text publications (39.2%) contained at least one major change from information presented in abstract form.

Conclusions: The full-text publication rate for information presented in abstract form within the Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy sections at CSM is low relative to comparative disciplines. Caution should be exercised when translating information presented at CSM into practice.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Influence of (A) American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) section, (B) year of presentation, (C) dichotomized year of presentation, (D) institution of origin, (E) study design, (F) study significance, (G) reporting of a funding source, and (H) presentation type on full-text publication rate during the 5 years following abstract presentation at Combined Sections Meeting. Odds of full-text publication increased if the abstract originated from a doctorate-granting or “other” institution, reported findings of an experimental study, reported a statistically significant finding, disclosed a funding source, or were presented as a platform presentation, as determined by logistic regression. The APTA section and year of presentation had no effect on the odds of full-text publication. Data are presented in survival curves, which graph the probability of publication as a function of time from abstract presentation.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Journals publishing full-text publications of work presented in abstract form at Combined Sections Meeting within the Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy sections of the American Physical Therapy Association. There was no influence of study design on full-text publication journal location, as determined by logistic regression.
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