Characteristics and Publication Rates for Podium Presentations at National Hand Surgery Meetings from 2007 to 2012

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the research presented at the annual meetings of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS). Podium presentation data were extracted from the abstract books of the annual meetings of the ASSH and AAHS from 2007 to 2012. Corresponding publications were identified using searchable online publication databases and an algorithm linking authorship and content. The majority of research was clinical and the most common topics were trauma, degenerative conditions, and biomechanics. The most common body region of interest was the wrist/forearm. ASSH podium presentations were of a stronger level of evidence and were more likely to be published. The mean times to publication for research presented at the ASSH and AAHS meetings were 16.7 and 16.4 months, respectively. Presentations from each society were subsequently published at higher proportions in their affiliated journals. Furthermore, in comparison to AAHS presentations, a significantly larger proportion of research presented at the ASSH meetings was published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery , while a larger proportion of AAHS presentations were published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Microsurgery .