Research trends in physical medicine and rehabilitation

Titles and abstracts of the 700 papers presented in the scientific sessions of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from 1972 to 1976 were reviewed. There were 81 papers in 1972, 123 in 1973, 131 in 1974, 158 in 1975 and 207 in 1976. Two hundred thirty-seven (34%) of the papers were presented by 11 Research and Training Centers and 463 papers (66%) were presented by other institutions. One hundred fifteen papers were related to spinal cord injury, 84 to electromyography, 57 to stroke, 51 to muscle histology, physiology and chemistry, 49 to orthotics and 43 to urologic problems. Only six papers were related to cerebral palsy, only one to myelodysplasia, 4 to burns, 8 to cancer, 13 to human sexuality and 10 to prosthetics. It is believed that appropriate funding of research and an emphasis on the neglected subjects through seminars and courses may provoke the curiosity of the research and encourage him to do research in important areas other than the few which are currently most popular.