Purpose
The purpose of this investigation is to determine the proportion of sports medicine
studies that are labeled as Level I Evidence in 5 journals and compare the quality
of surgical and nonsurgical studies using simple quality assessment tools (Consolidated
Standards of Reporting Trials [CONSORT] and Jadad).
Methods
By use of PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)
guidelines over the prior 2 years in the top 5 (citation and impact factor based)
sports medicine journals, only Level I Evidence studies were eligible for inclusion
and were analyzed. All study types (therapeutic, prognostic, diagnostic, and economic)
were analyzed. Study quality was assessed with the level of evidence, Jadad score,
and CONSORT 2010 guidelines. Study demographic data were compared among journals and
between surgical and nonsurgical studies by use of χ2, 1-way analysis of variance, and 2-sample Z tests.
Results
We analyzed 190 Level I Evidence studies (10% of eligible studies) (119 randomized
controlled trials [RCTs]). Therapeutic, nonsurgical, single-center studies from the
United States were the most common studies published. Sixty-two percent of studies
reported a financial conflict of interest. The knee was the most common body part
studied, and track-and-field/endurance sports were the most common sports analyzed.
Significant differences (P < .05) were shown in Jadad and CONSORT scores among the journals reviewed. Overall,
the Jadad and CONSORT scores were 2.71 and 77%, respectively. No differences (P > .05) were shown among journals based on the proportion of Level I studies or appropriate
randomization. Significant strengths and limitations of RCTs were identified.
Conclusions
This study showed that Level I Evidence and RCTs comprise 10% and 6% of contemporary
sports medicine literature, respectively. Therapeutic, nonsurgical, single-center
studies are the most common publications with Level I Evidence. Significant differences
across sports medicine journals were found in study quality. Surgical studies appropriately
described randomization, blinding, and patient enrollment significantly more than
nonsurgical studies.
Level of Evidence
Level I, systematic review of Level I studies.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 14,
2013
Received:
April 14,
2013
Footnotes
The authors report the following potential conflict of interest or source of funding: B.R.B. receives support from SLACK. Arthrex, Linvatec, Smith & Nephew, ConMed Linvatec, Ossur. Institutional research support for fellowship.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
