RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Publications pattern of dermatology research in Saudi Arabia
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 524
OP 531
DO 10.15537/smj.2020.5.25051
VO 41
IS 5
A1 Fahad M. Alsaif
A1 Sarah F. Alsukait
A1 Alaa B. Alsaad
A1 Nuha A. Alfurayh
A1 Rama A. Alhallaf
A1 Sara A. Alhaddab
A1 Hend M. Alotaibi
YR 2020
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/41/5/524.abstract
AB Objectives: To analyze the quantity and characteristics of Saudi Arabia’s (SA’s) dermatology research publications throughout the years.Methods: A literature search was conducted between October 2018 and July 2019 in the Dermatology Department, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. PubMed was used as a search engine, to retrieve dermatology-related publications in SA - from the date of the first article publication in 1982 to December 31, 2018.Results: Five hundred publications were included. Two-thirds of them were written between 2010 and 2018. Approximately 50% were from the central region and only 3% were multiregional studies. Funding support was described in 13% of these publications. The top 5 most-researched fields were infectious disorders (12%), genodermatosis (10%), hypopigmentation disorders (9.4%), neoplastic disorders (9%), and hair disorders (7%). Two-thirds of the publications were observational studies, and mostly case reports (44%).Conclusion: Dermatology research in SA has increased over the past decade. However, the quality of research remains inadequate. Saudi Arabia’s dermatology research output is affected by the availability of funding and national research projects, which could improve the studies’ quality. We recommend the establishment of data registry units that can aid researchers in producing high-quality studies, while encouraging the collaboration of different centers in various SA regions (and abroad) to conduct research with generalizable results.