Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jun;9(2):101-105.
doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2019.01.012. Epub 2019 Feb 4.

Dissemination patterns of scientific abstracts presented at the first and second African Conference of Emergency Medicine

Marlin Abrams  1 , Stevan R Bruijns  1 , Daniël J van Hoving  2
Affiliations

Dissemination patterns of scientific abstracts presented at the first and second African Conference of Emergency Medicine

Marlin Abrams et al. Afr J Emerg Med. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Introduction: Evidence based medicine is the standard of modern health care practices. Ongoing biomedical research is needed to expand existing knowledge and improve quality of care, but it needs to reach clinicians to drive change. Journal articles and conference presentations are dissemination tools. The aim of the study was to establish the publication rate of scientific abstracts presented at the first and second African Conference of Emergency Medicine. The secondary objectives were establishing non-publication dissemination and the factors associated with publication and non-publication. Determining non-publication dissemination patterns and the factors associated with reasons for publishing or non-publication were also investigated.

Methods: Presenters of the 129 scientific abstracts from the first and second African Conference of Emergency Medicine were invited to participate in an online survey. The survey was followed by a manual literature search to identify published manuscripts of authors that did not complete the survey, to determine the most accurate publication rate.

Results: Thirty-one presenters responded (24%), of which 18 published in a peer-reviewed journal. An additional 25 publications were identified by the literature search. The overall publication rate was 33.3% (26.9% from 2012 and 40.3% from 2014). Oral presentations were more likely to be published (p = 0.09). Sixteen manuscripts (37.2%) were published in the African Journal of Emergency Medicine. Presentations at local academic meetings were the most used platform beyond publication (43%). The main reason to publish was to add to the body of knowledge (100%), while lack of time (57%) was the major obstacle for not publishing.

Conclusion: The overall publication rate for the first and second Africa Conferences of Emergency Medicine is comparable to other non-African Emergency Medicine conferences. The increasing publication trend between conferences might reflect the development of regional research capacity. Emergency Medicine providers in Africa need to be encouraged to participate in high quality, locally relevant research and to distribute those findings through accessible formats.

Keywords: Africa; Barriers; Conference; Dissemination; Publication.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of publication versus non-publication of scientific abstracts presented at the first and second African Conference of Emergency Medicine.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Dissemination of research findings other than publications in academic journals (more than one method could have been selected per abstract).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Karagianis J. Understanding and teaching key concepts and tools of evidence-based medicine: perspectives of a clinician-researcher. Pharmaceutical Physician Clin Ther [Internet] 2011;33(12):B3–B10. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.uct.ac.za/science/article/pii/S014... Dec 1 [cited 2018 Feb 13] - PubMed
    1. Claridge J.A., Fabian T.C. History and development of evidence-based medicine. World J Surg. 2005 [cited 2018 Feb 16]; Available from: https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.uct.ac.za/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00268.... - PubMed
    1. Wilson P.M., Petticrew M., Calnan M.W., Nazareth I. Disseminating research findings: what should researchers do? A systematic scoping review of conceptual frameworks. Implement Sci [Internet] 2018;5(1):91. Available from: http://implementationscience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1748-590.... 2010 Dec 22 [cited 2018 Feb 14] - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chikwe J., Meakin R., Lloyd M., Ward S., Tsuruoka K., Tsuruoka Y. Evidence based general practice [with Reply] Source BMJ Br Med J [Internet] 1996;313(13):114–115. [cited 2018 Feb 14] Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29732285. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wilson P.M., Petticrew M., Calnan M.W., Nazareth I. Does dissemination extend beyond publication: a survey of a cross section of public funded research in the UK. Implement Sci [Internet] 2010;5(1):61. Available from: http://implementationscience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1748-590... Dec 4 [cited 2018 Feb 14] - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources