Pediatric Cardiology Research in 1990: A Review of Abstracts Submitted to the Society for Pediatric Research, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

Abstract

ABSTRACT. We assessed pediatric cardiology research by reviewing pediatric cardiology abstracts submitted in 1990 to the Society of Pediatric Research, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Heart Association national meetings. Included were accepted and rejected studies. Abstracts were reviewed for disease being studied, methodology used to answer the research question, study design, and acceptance/rejection. Abstracts were analyzed from 123 institutions, 81 American and 42 foreign. Out of 423 abstracts, 307 (72.6%) were clinical and the remainder were basic science investigations. Slightly more than half of the clinical submissions were related to congenital heart disease. Coronary artery disease and inflammatory diseases accounted for 12% of clinical submissions. Echocardiography, clinical outcome measures, and electrophysiology were the most common research methodologies. Almost 80% of basic science research was performed in normal tissues; animal physiology, fetal physiology, and cellular/biochemical studies were the most common methodologies. With regard to study design, half of the clinical studies were retrospective and only 6% were either prospective epidemiologic or prospective controlled intervention trials. For basic sciences, 38% of abstracts were descriptions of phenomena and 62% were hypothesis testing, with developmental hypotheses being most common. Acceptance rates favored higher quality study design. However, areas of greatest interest to cardiologists, congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and electrophysiology, had poorer quality study design than did other areas. We have shown broad interest in pediatric cardiology research. However, clinical studies frequently were retrospective or had uncontrolled study designs. Basic science research was performed at a small number of institutions and emphasized either description of phenomena or developmental biology of normal tissues. (Pediatr Res 32: 10-16, 1992) An analysis of the pediatric cardiology research effort is important to define resources, improve methodology, and identify new areas of inquiry. In addition, the assessment of the potential for future research must include an analysis of current research productivity and quality. Such an analysis should include measures of research quality, methodologies used for answering research questions, the contribution of clinical and basic science Received November 25, 1991; accepted Febmary 13, 1992 10 studies to total research effort, participation of the cardiology community, and the rewards for productivity.We sought to study research in pediatric cardiology by reviewing pediatric cardiology abstracts submitted to national scientific meetings in 1990. We characterized research reports by disease being studied, methodology used, study design, and acceptance rate. We found that clinical descriptive studies predominated and basic science studies were fewer and originated from a small group of institutions. MATERIALS AND METHODSAbstracts submitted to three national scientific meetings re...

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