Miller PA, McKibbon KA, Haynes RB "A quantitative analysis of research publications in physical therapy journals" PHYSICAL THERAPY 83 (2): 123-131 FEB 2003

[Eugene Garfield]

P. A. Miller : pmiller at mcmaster.ca

Full text or article is at :
http://www.ptjournal.org/PTJournal/Feb2003/v83n2p123.cfm#article%20info

TITLE  :  A quantitative analysis of research publications
          in physical therapy journals
AUTHOR :  Miller PA, McKibbon KA, Haynes RB
JOURNAL:  PHYSICAL THERAPY 83 (2): 123-131 FEB 2003

 Document type: Article   Language: English
 Cited References: 26     Times Cited: 0


Abstract:
Many physical therapists depend on their-quality evidence. The purpose of
this professional journals for high study was to evaluate the rigor of
research and review articles in 4 national physical therapy journals.
Subjects and Methods. All articles in 6 consecutive issues of the Australian
Journal of Physiotherapy, Physical Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Physiotherapy
Canada, published between January 2000 and June 2001 (N = 179) were
reviewed. One trained reviewer identified the type and purpose of each
article and assessed the rigor of treatment and review articles according to
explicit criteria. Results. The majority of articles reviewed were original
studies (56%). The majority of the research articles that dealt with human
health care (66%) addressed topics that were not directly applicable to the
provision of patient care such as measurement topics and studies on subjects
without identified pathologies or impairments. Of the 179 journal articles,
19 met the standards for rigor (11%). The majority of these articles dealt
with treatment. The pass rate per journal was as follows: Australian Journal
of Physiotherapy, 10% (4/42); Physical Therapy, 15% (7/47); Physiotherapy,
12% (4/34); and Physiotherapy Canada, 7% (4/56). Discussion and Conclusion.
Because such a small percentage of articles in these professional journals
were identified as having direct application to patient care, physical
therapists should attempt to access other sources of information to find
additional high-quality evidence. A larger sample with a greater number of
issues per journal may have yielded different results and indicated
different trends, and further research appears to be warranted.

Author Keywords:
clinical research, evidence-based practice, publications and audiovisual
materials

KeyWords Plus:
EMPIRICAL-EVIDENCE, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, TRIALS, BIAS

Addresses:
Miller PA, McMaster Univ, Sch Rehabil Sci, Hamilton, ON, Canada
McMaster Univ, Sch Rehabil Sci, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Hamilton Hlth Sci, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Univ Pittsburgh, Ctr Biomed Informat, Pittsburgh, PA USA

Publisher:
AMER PHYSICAL THERAPY ASSOC, ALEXANDRIA

IDS Number:
640ZN

ISSN:
0031-9023