What Researchers Did
Researchers examined abstracts presented at the 2005 Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) scientific meeting to determine how many were later published as full articles in peer-reviewed journals.
What They Found
Out of 179 eligible abstracts, 62 (34.6%) were published as full-text articles within the succeeding five years. The average time for an abstract to be published was 18.5 months. The country where the study originated and the specific subject of the abstract were identified as independent factors predicting whether it would be published.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
This study focuses on the publication rates of scientific research, not on specific hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) treatments or patient outcomes. Therefore, it does not directly offer new clinical information or practical guidance for Canadian patients receiving HBOT.
Canadian Relevance
This study is not Canadian. However, it covers the general category of decompression, which includes decompression sickness, a condition recognized by Health Canada for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Study Limitations
A limitation is that the study only looked at abstracts from a single year's scientific meeting (2005) and their publication within a five-year period.