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Levels of evidence: a comparison between top medical journals and general pediatric journals

Dustin A Jacobson1, Kunal Bhanot2, Blake Yarascavitch3

  • 1Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. jacobson.dustin@gmail.com.

BMC Pediatrics
|April 17, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric clinical literature in high-impact journals offers higher levels of evidence (LOE) and better-quality randomized control trials. Focusing on these resources can improve clinical decision-making.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Research
  • Clinical Evidence
  • Pediatric Literature

Background:

  • Clinicians require high levels of evidence (LOE) due to the vast amount of published research.
  • Assessing LOE in pediatric literature is crucial for effective clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the level of evidence (LOE) in pediatric literature.
  • To compare LOE between general pediatric journals and high-impact clinical journals.

Main Methods:

  • Reviewed pediatric articles from April 2011 to March 2012 in high-impact clinical journals (HICJ) and general pediatric journals (GPJ).
  • Evaluated articles for LOE, subspecialty, author count, and study centers.
  • Assessed eligible Level I randomized control trials using Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines.

Main Results:

  • 804 of 6511 articles met inclusion criteria (68 in HICJ, 736 in GPJ).
  • Pediatric articles in The Lancet showed significantly higher LOE than GPJ (p < 0.05).
  • HICJ demonstrated significantly higher average CONSORT scores than GPJ (15.2 vs. 13.6, p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

  • High-impact clinical journals (HICJ) provide the highest LOE and quality for pediatric randomized control trials.
  • Pediatric studies in HICJ represent a small fraction of published data.
  • Adhering to CONSORT criteria and promoting high LOE studies can enhance clinical impact.
Abstract

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