This is US: Geography of evidence in top health economics journals

The Journal of Health Economics and Health Economics are arguably the top two journals in the field of health economics. Together, they published 1,679 empirical research articles in the past decade (2010–2019). In line with analyses based on earlier periods, the empirical evidence in top health economics journals continues to be dominated by the United States (37% of all empirical articles), whereas studies based on low‐income countries remain rare (2%). Countries with higher disease burdens receive generally less attention from health economists publishing at the top of their field. Reflecting this, more research was published based on data from the Nordic countries (27 million people) than from sub‐Saharan Africa and South Asia regions combined (2.9 billion people). Finally, one‐third of the empirical articles did not indicate the country of evidence in the title or the abstract, possibly to signal external validity of the findings. This practice was particularly common for articles based on data from North America with more than half of the articles omitting the country of evidence from the title and the abstract. The study concludes by exploring some hypotheses that may explain these findings.     

Dutch authors in international medical journals are also authors of publications in the Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (Dutch Journal of Medicine)

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether Dutch medical scientists who frequently publish in international journals with high impact factors also publish in Dutch in the Nederlands Tijdschrit voor Geneeskunde (NTvG). DESIGN: Bibliometric study. METHODS: By means of a search in Medline, the Dutch authors were selected who had published the largest number of articles in 20 medical journals with high impact factors from 5 different specialties: general medicine, surgery, dermatology, psychiatry and ophthalmology. Subsequently, it was determined how often these authors had published in the NTvG in the same period. Moreover, a countwas made of the number of articles the first authors of original articles in the NTvG in 1991 and 2000 had published in international journals in 1993-1997 and 1998-2002, respectively. RESULTS: A large proportion of the Dutch investigators with many publications in international journals also published in the NTvG: in 1988-1992, 46 authors wrote 219 international publications and 35 of these published 151 articles in the NTvG; in 1998-2002, 55 authors wrote 326 international publications and 41 of these published 145 articles in the NTvG. The proportion of original articles published by these authors in the NTvG was lower than in the international journals: 83% for the international journals in 1998-2002 versus 39% for the NTvG in 2000. In 2001, 93 original articles by 87 different first authors appeared in the NTvG. Of these 87 authors, 67 (77%) published at least one article and 18 (21%) published more than 10 articles in an international journal in the period 1998 to 2002, as either the first author or a co-author. CONCLUSION: Authors that publish many articles in frequently cited international journals also write articles for the NTvG and, vice versa, the authors of articles in the NTvG also publish in international journals.     

Fewer infants than older patients in paediatric randomised controlled trials

To determine whether the youngest age groups are less likely to be included in paediatric randomised controlled trials (PRCTs) than older children, we conducted a PubMed search using the keyword “randomised controlled trial” and the limit “all child: 0–18 years”. We retrieved 417 articles published in 2006 in 34 leading journals classified as general medical journals, paediatric medical journals, or specialist medical journals. We arbitrarily selected 144 articles, at random. For each study, we evaluated population age characteristics (central tendency, range, and dispersion), study design, sample size and topic. Of the 144 studies, only 82 were first reports of paediatric randomised controlled trials (PRCTs). Among the other studies, many were done in adults. Of the 82 PRCTs, only 11% included newborns and 26% infants; 59% included children and 39% adolescents. Using the same search strategy to retrieve PRCTs in the same journals in the last 4 months of 2009 retrieved 66 PRCTs, of which 17% included newborns, 24% infants, 61% children and 55% adolescents. The three health conditions most often reported were respiratory diseases, infectious diseases, and mental and behavioural disorders. In 34 leading journals, PRCTs were significantly less likely to include newborns and infants than older paediatric patients. Given the huge impact of PRCTs on paediatric health, additional efforts are needed to promote studies in newborns and infants, as well as studies of the impact of recent European and American regulations designed to encourage paediatric drug trials.     

How international is Medical Education?

AIMS: To consider Medical Education's claim to international status in terms of the extent of international authorship within published articles, the degree to which authors draw on the international literature to support their work, and its self-citation rates and publication decisions. METHOD: We examined 6 journals' citation rates for the period 1997-2001 to see if there was evidence of national publication bias; we calculated their self-citation rates to see if this had any influence on impact factor, and we examined Medical Education's management files for trends which might indicate publication bias due to country of origin of authors. RESULTS: All 6 journals exhibited a bias in favour of citing journals from their own countries. The US journals were more likely to cite journals from their own country. Medical Education was most likely to cite journals from non-UK countries. Self-citation rates did not appear to affect impact factors. The ratio of UK to non-UK papers published in Medical Education has not changed significantly over the period studied although non-UK submissions increased sharply in 2002 and the number of North American submissions has doubled since 1998. CONCLUSION: Medical Education is justified in calling itself an international journal to the extent that the majority of papers it publishes are from countries other than the UK, and it is more likely than other journals in the field to publish papers which cite work in journals published outside the UK. Nevertheless, there is some evidence of publication bias in the journal and more work is needed to discover why this is the case. Various strategies to address the issue of national bias in Medical Education are discussed.     

Trends and Correlates of HIV Testing During Pregnancy in Racially/Ethnically Diverse Insured Population, 1997–2006

Objectives To describe the trends in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing during pregnancy from 1997 through 2006, and the demographic, clinical, and health system correlates of being tested in a diverse insured population. Methods Health plan members who had one or more births at ≥20 weeks gestation from January 1, 1997 through December 31, 2006 in Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals were included in this retrospective analysis. Data were obtained from the infants’ birth certificate, and administrative and laboratory databases. Multiple log binomial regression analyses were used to generate adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each characteristic. Results Of the 240,575 women with 302,246 pregnancies, the proportion tested for HIV during pregnancy increased from 77.6% in 1997 to 91.0% in 2006 (P _trend < 0.0001). Compared with Hispanic women, of which 90% were tested, non-Hispanic white women were least likely to be tested (81.7%: PR: 0.965; 95% CI: 0.957–0.973). Demographic characteristics negatively associated with HIV testing were maternal age ≥30, having more than a high school education, and residing in census blocks with the highest income tertile. Additionally, women were less likely to be tested after their first birth, if enrolling in prenatal care in the third trimester, or if they had a gap in insurance during their pregnancy. Of the 53,566 women with two sequential pregnancies, 78.5% were tested during both pregnancies. Conclusion In an insured racially/ethnically patient population, the testing rate exceeded 90% in 2006. Achieving and sustaining these high testing levels has public health implications. This paper was presented in abstract form at the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research (SPER) on June 23–24, 2008 and the Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) on June 24–27, 2008. Both meetings were in Chicago, IL, USA.     

Instrument Validity and Reliability in Three Health Education Journals, 1980–1987

Investigators examined how often validity and reliability measures were reported for research articles in three health education journals: Health Education, Health Education Quarterly, and the Journal of School Health. Articles published from 1980 to 1987 were considered in the analysis. Of the 611 articles published by Health Education during the period used for analysis, 128 (21%) met the criteria of a research article. Reliability was reported for 22 (17%) articles, and validity was reported for 78 (61%) articles. Health Education Quarterly published 212 articles; 74 (35%) were research articles. Reliability was reported for 16 (21%) articles and validity was reported for 40 (54%) articles. The Journal of School Health published 778 articles, of which 243 (31%) were research articles. Reliability was reported for 62 (25%), and validity was reported for 164 (67%) of the research articles. A chi-square test found a significant difference among the number of research articles published by the journals. Chi-square tests also found significant differences among the journals in the proportion of research articles that reported reliability information and the proportion that reported validity. A significant trend was noted for Health Education Quarterly and the Journal of School Health; the proportion of research articles that reported validity and reliability increased over time for both publications.     

The role of health journal in the delivery of health care

The functions of public health journals, the titles of articles on relevant topics published by the Indian Journal of Public Health, and a brief summary of the history of this journal are included. Health journals reflect the fact that 80% of Indian medicine is primary, preventive and community service. Their role has expanded recently into environmental, mental and occupational health. Health journals are expected to publish the frontiers of knowledge, present new findings and treatments, aid in training of manpower, publish results of surveys, analyze problems due to epidemics and specific diseases, further health education in local languages, educate health workers and the public on community health participation, publish reports, meetings, seminars, workshops, lectures and policy resolutions. The actual articles published by the Indian Journal of Public Health are listed by type of article, such as editorials, health policy, preventive medicine, communicable diseases, health education, environmental health, statistical data and lead articles. Then articles are enumerated by title, in 9 categories totaling 454 titles. The Indian Journal of Public Health was begun in 1956, the date of the founding of the association.     

Palliative care in public health: a formal and content-related analysis of European journals

Public health and health care science take on an important role in the further development of palliative care. This study examines to what degree palliative care is represented in the pertinent academic journals of public health and health care science and what the major subjects are. We analysed the European journals that were listed in the Journal Citation Reports in the categories health care science and services, public, environmental and occupational health, as well as health policy and services. The literature search was conducted in the journals identified for the years 1996 through 2005, using the terms palliative care*, palliative medicine*, terminal care* and hospice care*. The analyses were based on the quantity of publications in the journals, the publication years, the impact factors and the subjects focused on. There were 82 journals included. Altogether, 57,737 publications appeared during the analysis period; 166 papers were on palliative care (0.3% of all papers). The majority of palliative care articles (55%, n = 91) were concentrated in a very small circle of journals (4%, n = 3). The absolute quantity of palliative publications and their percentage among all publications have continuously increased from 0.1% in 1996/1997 to 0.4% in 2004/2005. The largest group of papers on the subject (42%, n = 70) appeared in journals with impact factors less than 1, whereas the largest group of all papers was found in journals with impact factors of 1–1.999 (51%, n = 15,732). Most papers focus on patient orientation and health professionals’ perspective and education; subjects such as health care utilization and barriers are less frequently covered. There is need for more research on palliative care relevant for public health and health care science in terms of reach and top-level impact. For example, the research questions should deal with health care utilization and potential social and cultural barriers. The interdisciplinary community of public health sets the stage for the required collaborative research activities.     

Research published in 2003 by U.S. family medicine authors.

OBJECTIVES: The discipline of family medicine seeks to build its research enterprise. To assess the state of family medicine research in the United States, this study identifies and describes research articles published by family medicine researchers from the United States in 2003 and assesses the growth in articles, authors, and publishing journals since 2000. METHODS: We searched for all research articles published in 2003 in scholarly, English-language journals authored by individuals in US family medicine organizations and by family physicians from the United States. Search approaches included a hard copy review of 22 journals and Medline searches of articles by family medicine authors and organizations. Similar search approaches, previously reported, were used to identify articles published in 2000. RESULTS: For 2003 we found 790 research articles dispersed across 285 journals from 801 family medicine researcher-authors. Twenty-nine journals published 6 or more family medicine research articles; 159 journals published just 1 research article from the discipline. Family medicine journals published 18% of the discipline's research articles. People in academic departments authored the vast majority (89%) of the discipline's research. Between 2000 and 2003 family medicine's research articles increased by an estimated 58%, its authors increased by 41%, and journals used increased by 82%. CONCLUSIONS: Family medicine's research enterprise in the United States is larger and more productive than generally recognized, and it is growing. Nevertheless, family medicine likely publishes fewer research articles than some other clinical disciplines.     

A 10-Year Content Analysis of Original Research Articles Published in Health Communication and Journal of Health Communication (2000–2009)

This study presents data from a content analysis of original research articles published in Health Communication and Journal of Health Communication from 2000 to 2009. The authors coded 776 articles using categories that identified health topics, theory, population characteristics, and methods used in each study. Distinctions between the published research in Health Communication and Journal of Health Communication are highlighted. Across both journals, findings demonstrated articles sometimes lack racial demographic information, primarily perform research in the United States, rely heavily on survey data, and often lack a theoretical framework. The top physical health topic addressed across both journals was cancer, and the top non–physical health topic addressed was the role of media in health. Journals displayed differences in several areas and those differences often mirrored each journal's stated objectives. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for expanding health communication research to be reflective of issues salient to public health within the United States and around the world.     

Introduction of article-processing charges for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Population Health Metrics</Emphasis>

Population Health Metrics is an open-access online electronic journal published by BioMed Central – it is universally and freely available online to everyone, its authors retain copyright, and it is archived in at least one internationally recognised free repository. To fund this, from November 1 2003, authors of articles accepted for publication will be asked to pay an article-processing charge of US$500. This editorial outlines the reasons for the introduction of article-processing charges and the way in which this policy will work.     

Citation classics in occupational medicine journals

OBJECTIVES: The number of citations an article receives after its publication not only reflects its impact on the scientific community, but also the impact of the institutions or countries in the field studied. In 1987, Garfield introduced the concept of "citation classics" for the best-cited articles. An analysis of top-cited articles coming from journals in the field of occupational medicine (eg, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health) has not yet been reported. The purpose of this study was to assess whether or not such citation classics exist in this field and to analyze their characteristics. METHODS: The most frequently cited articles published in the five major journals in occupational medicine were identified using the database of Science Citation Index Expanded. The data were obtained by searching one year and one journal at a time. All of the articles cited more than 100 times were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 15 553 articles published by the five journals since 1949, only 85 articles had been cited more than 100 times. The oldest had been published in 1950 and the latest in 1997. The United Kingdom contributed 28% of the citation classics and the United States or Sweden produced 19%. The most cited article had been cited 979 times. The main topics of articles were metabolism, occupational neoplasms, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Since the 1980s, Scandinavia and the United States have taken the leadership in the publication of citation classic papers. Nevertheless, according to the level of citations, the influence of literature published in occupational medicine journals remains limited.     

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease severity and cardiovascular outcomes

Objective: To identify predictors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity and assess the relation between COPD severity and risk of cardiovascular outcomes. Study design and setting: A␣cohort of patients with diagnosed and treated COPD was compiled from the Saskatchewan Health longitudinal databases. We used multivariate modeling to identify predictors of hospitalization for COPD as an indicator of COPD severity, and we used the model to characterize patients according to quintiles of COPD severity. These severity levels were used as independent variables in multivariate models of cardiovascular outcomes. Results: Determinants of COPD severity included emphysema, recent nebulizer use, home oxygen services, corticosteroid use, frequent bronchodilator use, pneumonia and prior COPD exacerbation. The 20% of patients with the highest COPD severity were 1.27 (CI: 1.07–1.50) times more likely to have arrhythmia, 1.25 (CI: 1.07–1.46) times more likely to have ischemic heart disease, 1.38 (CI: 1.11–1.71) times more likely to have angina, 2.28 (CI: 1.95–2.66) times more likely to have congestive heart failure, and 1.63 (CI: 1.22–2.16) times more likely to die of cardiovascular causes than the least severe 20% of patients. Conclusions: Patients with more severe COPD, as defined by our model, had higher cardiovascular morbidity and mortality than patients with less severe COPD.     

Maternal-Infant Bedsharing: Risk Factors for Bedsharing in a Population-Based Survey of New Mothers and Implications for SIDS Risk Reduction

Objectives: Maternal-infant bedsharing is a common but controversial practice. Little has been published about who bedshares in the United States. This information would be useful to inform public policy, to guide clinical practice and to help focus research. The objective was to explore the prevalence and determinants of bedsharing in Oregon. Methods. Oregon Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) surveys a population-based random sample of women after a live birth. Women were asked if they shared a bed with their infant “always,” “almost always,” “sometimes” or “never.” Results: 1867 women completed the survey in 1998–99 (73.5% weighted response rate). Of the respondents, 20.5% reported bedsharing always, 14.7% almost always, 41.4% sometimes, and 23.4% never. In multivariable logistic regression, Hispanics (adjusted odds ratio [ORa] 1.69, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.17–2.43), blacks (ORa 3.11, 95% CI 2.03–4.76) and Asians/Pacific Islanders (ORa 2.14, 95% CI 1.51–3.03), women who breastfed more than 4 weeks (ORa 2.65, 95% CI 1.72–4.08), had annual family incomes less than $30,000 (ORa 2.44, 95% CI 1.44–4.15), or were single (ORa 1.55, 95% CI 1.03–2.35) were more likely to bedshare frequently (always or almost always). Among Hispanic and black women, bedsharing did not vary significantly by income level. Bedsharing black, American Indian/Alaska Native and white infants were much more likely to be exposed to smoking mothers than Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander infants (p < .0001). Conclusions: Bedsharing is common in Oregon. The women most likely to bedshare are non-white, single, breastfeeding and low-income. Non-economic factors are also important, particularly among blacks and Hispanics. Campaigns to decrease bedsharing by providing cribs may have limited effectiveness if mothers are bedsharing because of cultural norms.     

2011—2020年中国儿童肥胖研究的文献计量学分析

目的 从文献类型、文献年度、被引频率、学科分析、研究内容、核心作者、研究机构、期刊来源和基金来源方面对我国儿童肥胖相关文献进行分析,了解我国儿童肥胖研究的现状,为之后的相关研究提供参考。方法 以中国知网(CNKI)、万方(Wan Fang Data)、维普(VIP)和Web of Science为文献检索平台,检索2011—2020年我国学者发表的儿童肥胖研究文献,利用文献计量学方法对检索到的4 986篇相关文献进行分析。结果 我国儿童肥胖研究文献数量在2011—2020年总体呈上升趋势,年度发文量保持在400～500篇; 文献涉及的学科主要为医学类,其发文量占总文献量的74.65%; “儿童肥胖的干预与预防”、“青少年肥胖”、“儿童肥胖的影响因素”、“代谢综合征”等成为儿童肥胖研究的主要热点; 发文量8篇以上的作者为本领域的核心作者,其中发文量10篇以上的核心作者共有24位; 研究机构以医科大学、综合性大学、各级各类医院和疾病预防控制中心为主; 载文量排名前五的期刊分别为中国学校卫生、中国儿童保健杂志、中国妇幼保健、中国保健营养和International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; 1 493篇文献得到了各级各类基金的资助,资助文献占总文献的29.94%。结论 我国儿童肥胖研究得到了各级组织和机构的关注和重视,但是研究范围还有待于进一步拓宽。     

突发公共卫生事件中国内外生物医学期刊的发文特征分析——以COVID-19专题论文为例

【目的】 探讨COVID-19疫情下国内外生物医学期刊专题论文的发文趋势及分布特征,为今后应对突发公共卫生事件的科学传播提供借鉴。【方法】 检索2019年12月1日至2020年6月30日PubMed文献数据库及我国新型冠状病毒肺炎科研成果学术交流平台(以下简称“我国新冠学术交流平台”)的发文量及时间、作者信息、期刊信息、论文类型等,描述国内外COVID-19论文的发文趋势和来源期刊、作者分布。【结果】 PubMed文献数据库共收录COVID-19论文26391篇,期刊3133种。美国作者发文量领先,中国、意大利、英国作者发文量相近。我国新冠学术交流平台共收录专题论文993篇,期刊106种。中国作者总数及第一作者数均仅次于美国。来自北京、湖北、上海的作者发表的中文医学论文最多。国际期刊中,病毒学、传染病学、环境科学、公共卫生学科期刊发文量居前列;国内期刊中,流行病学、内科学、传染病学、急诊医学、传染病学、药学期刊发文量较多。论文类型以论著、病例报告、综述为主,在国际、国内期刊中占比分别为68.4%和56.3%,国内期刊指南与共识类论文占比较国际期刊多(17.7% vs 0.7%)【结论】 突发公共卫生事件中的科学传播因疫情驱动,由科研实力支撑。我国作者发文呈现阶段性特点,2020年4月以前,中国作者的科研成果较多刊发于我国生物医学领域期刊,此后的大样本量报道、深入分析和国际合作研究主要刊发于国外期刊。我国期刊的指南与共识类论文数量优势明显。     

Study design,statistical method,and level of evidence in Japanese and American clinical journals

Clinical articles published in Japanese journals are said to be characterized by poor study design, less sophisticated statistics, and producing few high-grade clinical evidences. Two American and two Japanese medical journals, published in 1990, 1993, 1996, and 1999 were compared to find out the differences regarding study design, statistical methods, and level of clinical evidence of original articles and synthetic studies. There were 1689 original articles in American and 308 in Japanese joumals. Regarding study design, American articles contributed much more to randomized controlled trials/controlled trials/clinical trials (27.9% vs. 14.3%, p=0.001), cohort studies (21.6% vs. 6.2%, p=0.001), and case-control studies (6.5% vs.0.3 %, p=0.000). Among original articles in American and Japanese journals, mean number of statistical methods used were 2.4 and 1.7 per article (p=0.000), respectively. Articles providing high grade clinical evidence (grade Ia, Ib & IIa) were much greater in proportion in American journals than Japanese journals (31.1% vs. 12.7%, p=0.001). The overall picture of Japanese medical articles seems to be improving recently, at least in terms of statistical methods toward more diversified and sophisticated way of use, compared to the previous data.     

Most Cited Authors and Publications In Health Education Journals For 1970–79

This study attempted to answer the following questions about the journals Health Education, Health Education Monographs and the Journal of School Health. What authors have been cited the most in health education journals during the decade of the 70s? What authors have been cited the most in each health education journal? What articles and books have been the most cited in health education journal? What have been the most cited articles and books in each health education journal? It was found that the most cited author was L. W. Green, the most cited articles were L. W. Green “Toward Cost-Benefit Evaluations of Health Education: Some Concepts, Methods and Examples.” Health Education Monographs and S. V. Kasl “Health Behavior, Illness Behavior and Sick-Role Behavior.” Archives of Environmental Health and the most cited books was School Health Education Study, Health Education: A Conceptual Approach to Curriculum Design. Most cited authors, articles and books varied across the three journals.