Abstract
Background
: While the research design of articles published in medical journals and in some physical therapy journals has already been evaluated, this has not been investigated in Brazilian physical therapy journals.
Objective
: To describe the research design used in all articles published in Brazilian scientific journals that are freely available, have high Qualis rankings, and are relevant to physical therapy over a 7-year period.
Method
: We extracted the bibliometric data, research design, research type (human or animal), and clinical area for all articles published. The articles were grouped into their level of evidence, and descriptive analyses were performed. We calculated the frequency, proportions of articles, and 95% confidence interval of these proportions with each research design in each journal. We cross-tabulated the clinical areas with research designs (expressed as number and percentages).
Results
: A total of 1,458 articles from four Brazilian journals were found: Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia, Revista Fisioterapia em Movimento, Revista Fisioterapia e Pesquisa, and Revista Acta Fisiátrica. The majority of articles were classified as level II of evidence (60%), followed by level III (29%) and level I (10%). The most prevalent research designs were cross-sectional studies (38%), single-case or case-series studies, and narrative reviews. Most articles reported human research and were in the musculoskeletal, neurologic, and cardiothoracic areas.
Conclusions
: Most of the research published in Brazilian physical therapy journals used levels II and III of evidence. Increasing the publication rate of systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials would provide more high-quality evidence to guide evidence-based physical therapy practice.
evidence-based practice; physical therapy; rehabilitation; scientific journals; research design
Introduction
Evidence-based physical therapy is defined as the integration of high-quality clinical
research, practice knowledge, and patient preferences11. Herbert RD, Jamtvedt G, Hagen BK, Mead J. Practical Evidence-Based
Physiotherapy. 2nd ed. London: Churchill Livingstone; 2011. 186 p. . One important step in accessing high-quality clinical research is the
identification of the research design used and knowing where the research design is
ranked in the hierarchy (or levels) of evidence22. Jeremy H, Iain C, Paul G, Trish G, Carl H, Alessandro L, et al. The
2011 Oxford CEBM Levels of Evidence (Introductory Document) [Internet]. 2011.
Available from: http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=5513.
Available
from: http:/...
. In the hierarchy of research designs to answer questions about the effects of
intervention, the highest levels of evidence are systematic reviews of randomized
controlled trials22. Jeremy H, Iain C, Paul G, Trish G, Carl H, Alessandro L, et al. The
2011 Oxford CEBM Levels of Evidence (Introductory Document) [Internet]. 2011.
Available from: http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=5513.
Available
from: http:/...
,
33. Kocak FU, Unver B, Karatosun V. Level of evidence in four selected
rehabilitation journals. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;92(2):299-303. PMid:21272728.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.233
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07...
. The hierarchy of research designs to answer questions about other aspects of
healthcare (e.g. making a diagnosis or predicting prognosis) differs from questions
about the effects of intervention. For example, systematic reviews of inception cohort
studies followed by individual inception cohort studies are the highest levels of
evidence for questions about prognosis, while diagnostic tests are best evaluated by
systematic reviews of cross-sectional studies (which compare the clinical test to a
reference standard) than by individual studies22. Jeremy H, Iain C, Paul G, Trish G, Carl H, Alessandro L, et al. The
2011 Oxford CEBM Levels of Evidence (Introductory Document) [Internet]. 2011.
Available from: http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=5513.
Available
from: http:/...
.
The level of evidence of articles published in some journals appears to have increased
over recent decades33. Kocak FU, Unver B, Karatosun V. Level of evidence in four selected
rehabilitation journals. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;92(2):299-303. PMid:21272728.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.233
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07...
4. Bleakley C, MacAuley D. The quality of research in sports journals.
Br J Sports Med. 2002;36(2):124-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.36.2.124
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.36.2.124...
5. Kiter E, Karatosun V, Gunal I. Do orthopaedic journals provide
high-quality evidence for clinical practice? Arch Orthop Trauma Surg.
2003;123(2-3):82-5. PMid:12721685.
6. Paci M, Cigna C, Baccini M, Rinaldi LA. Types of article published in
physiotherapy journals: a quantitative analysis. Physiother Res Int.
2009;14(4):203-12. PMid:19746407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pri.447
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pri.447...
7. Torloni MR, Riera R. Design and level of evidence of studies
published in two Brazilian medical journals recently indexed in the ISI Web of
Science database. Sao Paulo Med J. 2010;128(4):202-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010000400005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010...
8. Ubriani R, Smith N, Katz KA. Reporting of study design in titles and
abstracts of articles published in clinically oriented dermatology journals. Br J
Dermatol. 2007;156(3):557-9. PMid:17300248.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2006.07705.x
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.20...
9. Wiles L, Matricciani L, Williams M, Olds T. Sixty-five years of
Physical Therapy: bibliometric analysis of research publications from 1945 through
2010. Phys Ther. 2011;92(4):493-506. PMid:22194279.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20110013
http://dx.doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20110013...
-
1010. Wiles L, Olds T, Williams M. Twenty-five years of Australian nursing
and allied health professional journals: bibliometric analysis from 1985 through
2010. Scientometrics. 2012;94(1):359-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0704-y
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-070...
. For example, the evidence index (an indicator of the study design from 0 to 6,
with higher values allocated to higher study designs) increased significantly between
1985 and 2010 in the Journal of Physiotherapy, Journal of
Science and Medicine in Sport, and Physical Therapy
99. Wiles L, Matricciani L, Williams M, Olds T. Sixty-five years of
Physical Therapy: bibliometric analysis of research publications from 1945 through
2010. Phys Ther. 2011;92(4):493-506. PMid:22194279.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20110013
http://dx.doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20110013...
,
1010. Wiles L, Olds T, Williams M. Twenty-five years of Australian nursing
and allied health professional journals: bibliometric analysis from 1985 through
2010. Scientometrics. 2012;94(1):359-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0704-y
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-070...
. With the exception of Torloni and Riera77. Torloni MR, Riera R. Design and level of evidence of studies
published in two Brazilian medical journals recently indexed in the ISI Web of
Science database. Sao Paulo Med J. 2010;128(4):202-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010000400005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010...
, who evaluated Brazilian medical journals, these surveys focused on journals
published in North America, Europe, and Australia. To our knowledge, the level of
evidence of articles published in Brazilian physical therapy journals has not been
evaluated.
Understanding the level of evidence in Brazilian physical therapy journals may provide a broader view about both the current state of research and the change and the trends in research output over time in Brazil. In addition, it would allow us to determine changes in the proportion of study designs over the last years. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the research design used in articles published in Brazilian scientific journals that are relevant to physical therapy or physical medicine and rehabilitation. Journals that are freely available online and have high Qualis rankings were evaluated. A longitudinal analysis was undertaken over the most recent 7-year period (2005 to 2011, inclusive).
Method
This is a bibliometric study that classified the research design used in each article published in Brazilian scientific journals relevant to physical therapy and/or physical medicine and rehabilitation for the years 2005 to 2011, inclusive. The eligibility criteria for journal inclusion were (1) availability in an open access format over the internet and (2) high ranking by the Qualis system area 21 (which is related to physical therapy and physical medicine and rehabilitation). Qualis is a national ranking of scientific journals developed by the Coordination for Enhancement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES) to rate the quality of research output of graduate programs (i.e. master's degree and doctoral programs) in Brazil. The Qualis system assesses the quality of scientific journals by all research areas annually. The journals are classified into eight quality strata, A1 being the highest, followed by A2, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, and finally C.
The choice of the study period (i.e. five years) was determined by the availability of
open access journals over this period of time. Only open access journals were included
as these may be the main journals used by clinicians to support evidence-based
practice1111. Wentz R. Visibility of research: FUTON bias. Lancet.
2002;360(9341):1256. PMid:12401287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11264-5
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)...
. If an occasional article was not publicly available, the journal editor was
contacted to obtain a copy in portable document format (i.e. pdf). We selected the four
highest ranked journals relevant to physical therapy to be included in this study.
All articles were downloaded from the journal websites on 1 June 2012. Bibliometric data (authors, title, journal, year, volume, issue, and page numbers) were collected and the research design, type of participants, and clinical area were classified for all articles in the included journals. The source of the information used to classify each article was also recorded (i.e. title, abstract or text). All data extraction and classification was performed by two independent reviewers and, in case of disagreement, consensus was obtained through discussion and, if necessary, through arbitration by a third reviewer.
Research designs were classified using an adapted version of the categories and levels
of evidence used in two previous studies33. Kocak FU, Unver B, Karatosun V. Level of evidence in four selected
rehabilitation journals. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;92(2):299-303. PMid:21272728.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.233
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07...
,
77. Torloni MR, Riera R. Design and level of evidence of studies
published in two Brazilian medical journals recently indexed in the ISI Web of
Science database. Sao Paulo Med J. 2010;128(4):202-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010000400005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010...
(see Table 1). If the article reported
random allocation of participants to two or more interventions, the study was classified
as a randomized controlled trial (the precise method of randomization did not have to be
explained). If the article reported that participants were allocated to groups using a
pseudo-random process (e.g. by date of birth, hospital record number or alternation) the
study was classified as a quasi-randomized controlled trial. If no information was
provided about how participants were allocated to groups, the article was classified as
a non-randomized controlled trial. For review articles, we classified articles which
clearly reported the methods of the review as a systematic review. All other reviews
were classified as a narrative review. The type of participants investigated in the
articles was classified as human or animal/cadaveric.
Categories used to classify the research design of articles published in the included journals3,7.
The clinical area of each article was classified using the subdiscipline codes used in
the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro)1212. Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy PEDro. Códigos [Internet].
2012. Available from:
http://www.pedro.org.au/english/downloads/codes/.
Available from: http://www.pedro.org.au/...
. The codes were: 1) cardiothoracic; 2) continence and women's health; 3)
ergonomics and occupational health; 4) gerontology; 5) musculoskeletal; 6) neurology; 7)
oncology; 8) orthopedics; 9) pediatrics; 10) sports; and 11) other. The articles were
grouped and ranked according to their level of evidence. The level of evidence was
adapted by previous studies33. Kocak FU, Unver B, Karatosun V. Level of evidence in four selected
rehabilitation journals. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;92(2):299-303. PMid:21272728.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.233
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07...
,
77. Torloni MR, Riera R. Design and level of evidence of studies
published in two Brazilian medical journals recently indexed in the ISI Web of
Science database. Sao Paulo Med J. 2010;128(4):202-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010000400005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010...
divided into three levels (see Table
1).
Statistical analysis
Descriptive analyses were performed. The total number (and percentage) of articles in each journal and each year were calculated. The total number (and percentage) of articles reporting human and animal/cadaveric research were calculated. The frequency, proportions (and 95% confidence interval of these proportions) of articles with each research design in each journal were calculated. Finally we cross-tabulated the clinical areas with research designs (expressed as number and percentages).
Results
The four journals that met the inclusion criteria were: 1) Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia (www.rbf-bjpt.org.br; Qualis ranking A2), 2) Revista Fisioterapia e Pesquisa (www.rfp-ptr.com.br; Qualis ranking B2), 3) Revista Fisioterapia em Movimento (www.pucpr.br/revfisio; Qualis ranking B1), and 4) Revista Acta Fisiátrica (www.actafisiatrica.org.br; Qualis ranking B2). The Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia has published six issues per year since its first issue in 1996. The Revista Fisioterapia e Pesquisa has published three issues per year since 1994. The Revista Fisioterapia em Movimento has published three issues per year since its first issue in 1989. The Revista Acta Fisiátrica has published three issues per year since 1994.
A total of 1,458 articles were published between 2005 and 2011, inclusive. The Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia contained the highest number of articles (n=519, 36%), followed by the Revista Fisioterapia em Movimento (n=413, 28%), Revista Fisioterapia e Pesquisa (n=325, 22%), and Revista Acta Fisiátrica (n=201, 14%). However, the articles published in Revista Acta Fisiátrica are not complete because the last three issues published in 2011 were unavailable when the articles were downloaded on 1 June 2012.
The highest proportion of articles was published in 2008 and then the average number of articles remained relatively constant. The number of articles published each year was: 123 articles (8%) in 2005, 140 (9%) in 2006, 221 (15%) in 2007, 255 (17%) in 2008, 242 (16%) in 2009, 244 (17%) in 2010, and 233 in 2011 (16%). The data used to classify the research design were reported in the title or abstract in 1,145 articles (78%), but the full-text had to be consulted for the remaining articles (313, 21%). The majority of articles (1,286, 88%) reported human research. Animal/cadaveric research was reported in 79 articles (5%), and the remaining 93 articles (6%) were editorials, comments, reflections, letters to the editor, etc., which could not be classified as human or animal/cadaveric.
The majority of articles were classified as level II (60%) and level III (29%) evidence (see Table 2). The most common study designs were cross-sectional studies (38%), single-case or case-series studies (13%), and narrative reviews (9%). The Revista Fisioterapia em Movimento had the highest proportion of level I evidence (15%) followed by Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia (9%) and Revista Acta Fisiátrica (6%). These proportions are not significantly different as the 95% confidence intervals for these proportions overlap.
Number, percentage, and 95% confidence intervals of different study designs published in each of the four Brazilian physical therapy journals.
The clinical areas with the highest proportion of level I evidence were orthopedics (18%) and continence and women's health (17%), and the clinical areas with the lowest proportion of level I evidence were sports (4%) and pediatrics (2%). The most prevalent clinical areas (regardless of the level of evidence) were musculoskeletal (27%), neurology (18%), and cardiothoracics (13%), which equates to more than half of all articles published. On the other hand, oncology was the least studied clinical area, contributing less than 1% of the total articles. Table 3 presents the research design and level of evidence classified by the clinical area.
Discussion
We analyzed 1,458 articles from the four different Brazilian physical therapy journals (Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia, Revista Fisioterapia em Movimento, Revista Fisioterapia e Pesquisa, Revista Acta Fisiátrica) with high Qualis rankings published from 2005 to 2011. The majority of articles were classified as level II evidence (60%), followed by level III (29%) and level I (10%), and this pattern was consistent across all four journals. The most common study designs were cross-sectional studies, single-case and case-series studies, and narrative reviews, and the most prevalent clinical areas were musculoskeletal, neurology, and cardiothoracics.
Cross-sectional studies were the most prevalent design for the Brazilian physical
therapy journals evaluated and correspond to approximately 40% of all articles
published. This is consistent with previous surveys which also report that
cross-sectional studies are the most common study design in Brazilian medical
journals77. Torloni MR, Riera R. Design and level of evidence of studies
published in two Brazilian medical journals recently indexed in the ISI Web of
Science database. Sao Paulo Med J. 2010;128(4):202-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010000400005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010...
and other international physical therapy journals66. Paci M, Cigna C, Baccini M, Rinaldi LA. Types of article published in
physiotherapy journals: a quantitative analysis. Physiother Res Int.
2009;14(4):203-12. PMid:19746407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pri.447
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pri.447...
. One explanation for this high prevalence of cross-sectional studies (plus some
other designs classified as level II and III evidence) is that the methods are simple,
require less time, and are cheaper compared to randomized controlled trials or
well-conducted prospective cohort studies, making them relatively easier to conduct.
The proportion of articles classified as level I evidence was about 10% of all articles
evaluated. This may be higher than the level I evidence published in Brazilian medical
journals (4%)77. Torloni MR, Riera R. Design and level of evidence of studies
published in two Brazilian medical journals recently indexed in the ISI Web of
Science database. Sao Paulo Med J. 2010;128(4):202-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010000400005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802010...
but it is lower than the surveys of international physical therapy journals
(about 15%)33. Kocak FU, Unver B, Karatosun V. Level of evidence in four selected
rehabilitation journals. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;92(2):299-303. PMid:21272728.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.233
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07...
,
66. Paci M, Cigna C, Baccini M, Rinaldi LA. Types of article published in
physiotherapy journals: a quantitative analysis. Physiother Res Int.
2009;14(4):203-12. PMid:19746407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pri.447
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pri.447...
,
1313. Paci M, Briganti G, Lombardi B. Levels of evidence of articles
published in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine journals. J Rehabil Med.
2011;43(3):264-7. PMid:21394416. http://dx.doi.org/10.2340/16501977-0665
http://dx.doi.org/10.2340/16501977-0665...
. The publication of level I evidence (i.e. systematic reviews, randomized
controlled trials) is extremely important because this high-quality research is
considered the best evidence possible to evaluate the effects of interventions, predict
outcomes, and make a clinical diagnosis11. Herbert RD, Jamtvedt G, Hagen BK, Mead J. Practical Evidence-Based
Physiotherapy. 2nd ed. London: Churchill Livingstone; 2011. 186 p. . This study screened the four highest ranked Brazilian physical therapy journals
and the data from these journals are likely to be representative of the current scenario
of physical therapy research in Brazil with few articles classified as high-quality
research. However, the journals included in our survey are currently ranked as A2 and B1
using the Qualis ranking system. Perhaps Brazilian physical therapy researchers have
been publishing their clinical trials and reviews in higher impact journals (e.g. A1
Qualis ranking) or in journals published outside Brazil, which may explain the small
proportion of randomized controlled trials in Brazilian physical therapy journals.
Strategies which may increase the proportion of level I evidence in Brazilian physical therapy journals could include inviting contributions, offering an expedited review process in order to attract more systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials, and publishing the contents of each issue in the order of levels of evidence (i.e., systematic reviews then clinical trials then observational studies).
The main clinical areas of articles published in the Brazilian physical therapy journals
we surveyed were musculoskeletal, neurologic, and cardiothoracic. This is not surprising
as these three areas of physical therapy also have the greatest number of articles in
the PEDro database.1414. Sherrington C, Moseley AM, Herbert RD, Elkins MR, Maher CG. Ten
years of evidence to guide physiotherapy interventions: Physiotherapy Evidence
Database (PEDro). Br J Sports Med. 2009;44(12):836-7. PMid:19846426.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2009.066357
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2009.0663...
The number of publications in Brazilian physical therapy journals increased
between 2005 and 2008, and after that the number of publications has remained relatively
constant, mirroring the physical therapy scientific output in Brazil. While we did not
evaluate the association between time and the proportion of study designs published,
several studies suggest that the level of evidence has been increasing over recent
decades33. Kocak FU, Unver B, Karatosun V. Level of evidence in four selected
rehabilitation journals. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;92(2):299-303. PMid:21272728.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.233
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07...
,
99. Wiles L, Matricciani L, Williams M, Olds T. Sixty-five years of
Physical Therapy: bibliometric analysis of research publications from 1945 through
2010. Phys Ther. 2011;92(4):493-506. PMid:22194279.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20110013
http://dx.doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20110013...
,
1010. Wiles L, Olds T, Williams M. Twenty-five years of Australian nursing
and allied health professional journals: bibliometric analysis from 1985 through
2010. Scientometrics. 2012;94(1):359-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0704-y
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-070...
. For example, Wiles et al.1010. Wiles L, Olds T, Williams M. Twenty-five years of Australian nursing
and allied health professional journals: bibliometric analysis from 1985 through
2010. Scientometrics. 2012;94(1):359-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0704-y
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-070...
evaluated all research published in seven Australian nursing and allied health
journals over the lifetime of each journal. They found that all journals investigated
followed a similar trajectory in a move towards a higher level of evidence, a greater
collaboration between authors, and greater quantification in results reporting over
time. Applying a similar analysis to Brazilian physical therapy journals could be the
focus of future research.
We were able to identify the study design by examining the title and abstract in 78.5%
of the articles we evaluated. This is consistent with a recent study investigating the
quality of reporting of physical therapy systematic reviews in Brazilian journals which
concluded that reporting was generally poor1515. Padula RS, Pires RS, Alouche SR, Chiavegato LD, Lopes AD, Costa LO.
Analysis of reporting of systematic reviews in physical therapy published in
Portuguese. Rev Bras Fisioter. 2012;16(4):381-8. PMid:22858736.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-35552012005000040
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-35552012...
. Including the study design in the title and abstract allows clinicians to
quickly identify appropriate articles to answer their clinical questions and is one of
the recommendations made by the EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of
health Research) Network to increase transparent reporting in health research1616. Costa LO, Maher CG, Lopes AD, De Noronha MA, Costa LC. Transparent
reporting of studies relevant to physical therapy practice. Rev Bras Fisioter.
2011;15(4):267-71. PMid:21975681. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-35552011005000009
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-35552011...
. Incorporating international standards like trial registration1717. Costa LO, Lin CW, Grossi DB, Mancini MC, Swisher AK, Cook C, et al.
Clinical trial registration in physical therapy journals: recommendations from the
International Society of Physiotherapy Journal Editors. Rev Bras Fisioter.
2013;16(6):v-ix. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-35552012000600001
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-35552012...
and the CONSORT1818. Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D. CONSORT 2010 statement: updated
guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. Int J Surg.
2011;9(8):672-7. PMid:22019563. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2011.09.004
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2011.09...
and PRISMA1919. Liberati A, Altman DG, Tetzlaff J, Mulrow C, Gotzsche PC, Ioannidis
JP, et al. The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of
studies that evaluate healthcare interventions: explanation and elaboration. BMJ.
2009;339:b2700. PMid:19622552 PMCid:PMC2714672. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2700
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2700...
statements into the editorial guidelines of journals may make it easier for
physical therapists to access relevant high-quality research.
One limitation of our study is that we evaluated four Brazilian physical therapy journals and we based our analyses on the published articles only. As we selected the highest ranking physical therapy journals, our results may not be generalizable to other journals and may overestimate the quantity of level I evidence published across all Brazilian physical therapy journals. We decided to extract data solely from the published articles as this is the main source of information for the end-users of research (researchers, educators, students, and clinicians), but acknowledge that other data (including study protocols and electronic appendices) may also be available.
Conclusion
The four highest ranked Brazilian physical therapy journals were Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia, Revista Fisioterapia em Movimento, Revista Fisioterapia e Pesquisa, and Revista Acta Fisiátrica. All journals published a high proportion of level II and III evidence, with just 10% of articles being classified as level I. If the aim of Brazilian physical therapy journals is to disseminate high-quality research to guide the practice and teaching of physical therapy, more level 1 evidence needs to be included.
References
-
1Herbert RD, Jamtvedt G, Hagen BK, Mead J. Practical Evidence-Based Physiotherapy. 2nd ed. London: Churchill Livingstone; 2011. 186 p.
-
2Jeremy H, Iain C, Paul G, Trish G, Carl H, Alessandro L, et al. The 2011 Oxford CEBM Levels of Evidence (Introductory Document) [Internet]. 2011. Available from: http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=5513.
» Available from: http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=5513. -
3Kocak FU, Unver B, Karatosun V. Level of evidence in four selected rehabilitation journals. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;92(2):299-303. PMid:21272728. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.233
» http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.233 -
4Bleakley C, MacAuley D. The quality of research in sports journals. Br J Sports Med. 2002;36(2):124-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.36.2.124
» http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.36.2.124 -
5Kiter E, Karatosun V, Gunal I. Do orthopaedic journals provide high-quality evidence for clinical practice? Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2003;123(2-3):82-5. PMid:12721685.
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Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
2014 -
Date of issue
Mar 2014
History
-
Received
20 Feb 2013 -
Reviewed
27 June 2013 -
Accepted
31 July 2013