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Review
. 2022 Sep;132(9):1869-1876.
doi: 10.1002/lary.29945. Epub 2021 Nov 16.

Evaluating Strength of Evidence of Pediatric Otolaryngology Research Literature: A 20-Year Review

Jennifer A Silver  1 , Jeffrey C Yeung  1 , Deema Almutawa  1 , Rachel Szwimer  2 , Lily H P Nguyen  1
Affiliations
Review

Evaluating Strength of Evidence of Pediatric Otolaryngology Research Literature: A 20-Year Review

Jennifer A Silver et al. Laryngoscope. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives/hypothesis: Quantity and quality of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OTL-HNS) research are increasing, yet patterns within Pediatric OTL-HNS publications are unknown. This study examines trends in the level of evidence of pediatric OTL-HNS articles over a 20-year period to quantify the growth and characterize contributing factors.

Study design: Review article.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on 12 peer-reviewed OTL-HNS journals at three time-points: 1996, 2006, and 2016. Pediatric-specific OTL-HNS journals were selected; all were among the top 10 highest impact factor journals, with one pediatric-specific and one Canadian journal. Publication details, author characteristics, and study focus were collected. Papers were classified based on the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence by two independent reviewers.

Results: Of the 1,733 articles reviewed, 727 met inclusion criteria. A greater absolute number of pediatric OTL-HNS articles were published over the years studied: from 95 in 1996 to 359 in 2016 (P < .001). As well, the absolute number of high-quality studies has increased over the study period, from 28 articles in 1996 to 100 articles in 2016. However, the relative percentage of high-quality papers remained stable between 27.9% and 32.2% with an average of 29.7% (P = .89). Higher impact factor journals did not tend to publish higher-quality pediatric OTL-HNS articles (P = .48).

Conclusions: Over the past 20 years, there is no appreciable improvement in the proportion of high-quality publications in pediatric OTL-HNS; however, there is an overall greater number of high-quality papers within OTL-HNS literature. These findings likely relate to challenges of research within pediatric surgical specialties.

Level of evidence: NA Laryngoscope, 132:1869-1876, 2022.

Keywords: Level of evidence; pediatric otolaryngology; quality.

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