Quality of gastroenterology research published in Saudi Arabian scientific journals

Abstract

Background/Aims:Evidence-based medicine has established itself in the field of gastroenterology. In this study we aim to assess the types of study designs of gastroenterology-related articles published in Saudi scientific journals.Patients and Methods:An online review using PubMed was carried out to review gastroenterology-related articles published in six Saudi medical journals in the time interval from 2003 to 2012. To classify the level of evidence in these articles we employed the Oxford's levels of evidence. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the levels of evidence between published articles.Results:A total of 721 gastroenterology-related articles were reviewed, of which 591 articles met our inclusion criteria; 80.7% were level IV. The three most common types of studies we encountered were cross-sectional (33.9%), case reports (27.9%), and case series (18.8%). Forty-three percent of the published research was in the field of hepatobiliary and spleen. The total number of articles increased from 260 articles in the 1st 5-year period (2003–2007) to 330 in the 2nd period (2008–2012). However, no statistically significant difference in the level of evidence was noted. In Annals of Saudi Medicine Journal, articles with level II increased from 0 to 10% with a P value 0.02.Conclusion:In our review of gastroenterology-related published articles in Saudi scientific journals, we observed an increase in the quantity of articles with the quality and level of evidence remaining unchanged. Further research is recommended to explore different reasons affecting the volume and quality of gastroenterology-related research in Saudi scientific journals.

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“…Other multiple studies examined the publications by Saudi surgeons and physicians on plastic, orthopedic, epilepsy, gastroenterology, spine, and abdominal surgery [14][15][16][17][18][19]. Their findings were mostly consistent with our findings in this study in regard to LOE and lack of clinical randomized trials.…”

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“…Several explanations for the purificatory effect and the protection of oral health by Miswak have been offered, including the mechanical cleaning effect of its fibers which lie in the same long axis as the stick, and the release of beneficial chemicals . The method used to mechanically remove plaque is similar to that of a conventional toothbrush.…”

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“…We compared our results with other similar studies with similar specialties and methodology, to eliminate confounding factors and to formulate conclusions that are generalizable; however, such studies are lacking. One local Saudi study by Almaghrabi et al 9 where the main focus was Saudi publications in gastroenterology, 80.7% of the articles included represented level IV. 9 Other Saudi studies, 6 - 8 similar in the methodology in neurosurgery (91%), orthopedics (86%), and plastic surgery (91%), we found that most of the articles included in those studies were of level IV evidence.…”

“…One local Saudi study by Almaghrabi et al 9 where the main focus was Saudi publications in gastroenterology, 80.7% of the articles included represented level IV. 9 Other Saudi studies, 6 - 8 similar in the methodology in neurosurgery (91%), orthopedics (86%), and plastic surgery (91%), we found that most of the articles included in those studies were of level IV evidence. 6 , 7 , 8 All the previously mentioned studies demonstrated a lower LOE then the one found in our current study, in which level III was presented by (50.5%) of all included articles.…”

“…It is important to mention that the few studies from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) focused on the quality of publications in neurosurgery, orthopedics, and plastic surgery. 6 - 8 A recent study that is of great interest to our current study, by Almaghrabi et al 9 quantified the quality of Saudi publications in gastroenterology. Our current study differs from Almaghrabi et al that it focuses on topics related to abdominal surgery instead of focusing on specific journals.…”