Publication Rates of Podium Presentation Abstracts at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meetings 2004-2012

Purpose To determine the publication rates of podium presentation abstracts at the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) annual scientific meetings from 2004 to 2012. Methods A database of podium presentation abstracts at the annual meetings of the AANA was compiled. Abstract presentations that reached manuscript publication were determined by a PubMed search of the MEDLINE database and Google Scholar. The journal and publication date were then recorded for all identified published abstracts. Results A total of 658 abstracts were selected for podium presentations at AANA annual meetings from 2004-2012 (range, 53-102 per year). Of these 658 abstracts, 443 (67.3%) went on to eventual publication in peer-reviewed journals. The mean time from the meeting to publication was 20.0 months. Most abstracts were published within 3 years of the meeting (n = 380, 85.8%), with a significant number of published abstracts reaching publication before the time of the meeting (n = 41, 9.3%). Published abstracts were most frequently published in Arthroscopy (n = 186, 42.0%), The American Journal of Sports Medicine (20.3%), and The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (6.1%). Conclusions The overall publication rate of podium presentations at AANA annual meetings (67.3%) was similar to publication rates for other major orthopaedic annual meetings. Most published abstracts (85.8%) were published within 3 years, and the mean time to publication was 20.0 months. Clinical Relevance The rates of publication of podium presentations at AANA annual meetings show the impact and importance of these meetings in the advancement of orthopaedic research.