The 50 most impactful articles on the medial ulnar collateral ligament: An altmetric analysis of online media

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to use the Altmetric Attention Score to determine the 50 most impactful medial ulnar collateral ligament articles in online media and compare their characteristics to the most-cited medial ulnar collateral ligament articles in the scientific literature. The Altmetric database was queried to identify all published articles about the medial ulnar collateral ligament, and this list was stratified by the Altmetric Attention Score to identify the 50 highest scoring articles. Several data elements were extracted, including article topic, article type, journal name, and the number of online mentions on Facebook, Twitter, news, and other platforms. Each article’s geographic origin was determined based on the institutional affiliation of the first author. Our index search yielded 1283 articles published between 1987 and 2020, from which the 50 articles with the highest Altmetric Attention Scores were included for analysis. Altmetric Attention Scores of the top 50 medial ulnar collateral ligament articles ranged from 20 to 482 (median: 32, interquartile range: 20–62). The most common article type was original research (72%), and the most common topic was epidemiology/risk factors (26%). A majority of studies were Level 3 (36%) or Level 4 evidence (36%). Of the top 50 medial ulnar collateral ligament articles, 94% originated from the United States. A few articles had a high Altmetric Attention Score, suggesting that medial ulnar collateral ligament research does not generate consistently high online attention. The lack of Level 1 studies suggests the need for high-level studies on the medial ulnar collateral ligament. Most studies originated in the United States and were published in the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine–affiliated journals. The medial ulnar collateral ligament articles included in this study differed substantially from a previous report of the most-cited medial ulnar collateral ligament articles in the literature, suggesting that alternative metrics add a unique dimension to understanding the overall impact of published research on the medial ulnar collateral ligament.

The Most Impactful Articles on the Shoulder Labrum From the United States or Europe, and Decreased Level of Evidence Is Associated With Increased Altmetric Attention Score

“…Preferential social media promotion of articles from well-known journals mirrors trends depicted previously in the literature for the ACL in which 65% of articles were published in AJSM, British Journal of Sports Medicine , or Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 11 and MUCL in which 72% were AJSM, Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine , or JSES. 13 Conflicting orthopaedic literature exists on whether an association exists between journal IF and AAS, with some studies reporting no association, 18 , 19 including ours, and others demonstrating an association. 20 , 21 …”

“…This mirrors what has been reported on the ACL and MUCL top articles by AAS, with a majority of articles by authors based in the United States. 11 , 13 In contrast, more top rotator cuff articles were conducted in Europe (44%) than in the United States (25%). 12 Further, when only looking at articles published in 5 English-language orthopaedic journals (3 North American, 2 European), Kunze et al.…”

“…Seventy-three percent of articles included were clinical research studies, which aligns with literature on ACL and MUCL, in which original research represented 60% and 74% of their cohort. 11 , 13 When stratified by LOE, nearly half of studies were Level III or IV evidence (48%), whereas Level I and Level II evidence represent 11% and 6% of studies, respectively. This represents a lower numerical LOE than reported in the top MUCL papers, in which no level I studies were represented, 13 but similar results to the top rotator cuff articles in which meta-analysis and randomized control trials represent 29% and 15% of studies, respectively.…”

“… 11 , 13 When stratified by LOE, nearly half of studies were Level III or IV evidence (48%), whereas Level I and Level II evidence represent 11% and 6% of studies, respectively. This represents a lower numerical LOE than reported in the top MUCL papers, in which no level I studies were represented, 13 but similar results to the top rotator cuff articles in which meta-analysis and randomized control trials represent 29% and 15% of studies, respectively. 13 Multivariate regression model demonstrated a significant correlation between decreasing numerical LOE (i.e., greater LOE) and AAS.…”

“…The AAS has been used to identify the most impactful articles in sports medicine such as the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), 11 the rotator cuff, 12 and the medial ulnar collateral ligament (MUCL). 13 The purposes of this study were to use the top 100 articles pertaining to the shoulder labrum to understand the impact that social medial platforms have on the dissemination of shoulder research and to highlight bibliometric factors associated with AAS scores to offer insight into the impact that social media platforms have on the dissemination, attention, and citation of shoulder research publications. We hypothesized that the majority of the top 100 articles about the shoulder labrum would be original clinical research from the United States, would be published in a small group of journals, and that Level of Evidence (LOE) would be associated with the AAS.…”