RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Level of evidence of abdominal surgery clinical research in Saudi Arabia
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 788
OP 793
DO 10.15537/smj.2017.8.18456
VO 38
IS 8
A1 Maghrabi, Yazid
A1 Baeesa, Muad S.
A1 Kattan, Jawaher
A1 Altaf, Abdulmalik
A1 Baeesa, Saleh S.
YR 2017
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/38/8/788.abstract
AB Objectives: To quantify and evaluate the level of evidence (LOE) of Saudi publications in abdominal surgery and correlate the obtained results with that of other similar national and international studies.Methods: Study design was a systemic review. Literature search strategy was developed to retrieve available articles between January 2000 and December 2016 that are related to abdominal surgery utilizing PubMed and Google Scholar. Retrieved articles were analyzed in depth with several parameters, then evaluated using (OEBM) level of evidence scale.Results: One hundred and ninety-eight articles met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 50.5% were level III evidence studies. The most common study design was case reports (47%), and academic institutions had the highest rate of publications (47%).Conclusion: Saudi research in abdominal surgery published between 2000-2016 are of lower quality and of III and IV LOE, which is in the consistency with other specialties. We emphasize the need for promotion of a national and institutional research studies of I and II LOE with collaboration between different health care institutions.