Factors Influencing Publication Rates of Abstracts Presented at the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition

Factors related to the path of abstracts from presentation at a conference to publication as a full article have been analyzed in the medical field, but only a few studies have been performed in dentistry. This study investigated the rate of publication of articles based on abstracts presented at the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Annual Session & Exhibition in 2002 and 2003 and the time lag to publication. This study also aimed to characterize the abstracts and subsequent articles and determine if there were any significant factors related to expansion of an abstract into a full manuscript. A total of 370 abstracts met the inclusion criteria and were examined for this study. Subsequent published articles were located using a standard PubMed search. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to analyze the data collected (alpha=0.05). Results suggest that there was a low (19 percent) publication rate for articles based on abstracts presented at the meetings studied. The median time between abstract presentation and article publication was ten months. Factors that showed significant correlation to likelihood of article publication were multiple affiliations, presence of analytical statistics, and, to a lesser extent, funding. We suggest that presenters at these meetings should expand their abstracts into full manuscripts and seek to publish them in peer-reviewed journals for the benefit of the profession.

Differences between ADEA annual session poster abstracts and their corresponding full published articles

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between abstracts of posters presented at the 79th (2002) and 80th (2003) Annual Session & Exhibition of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and the published full-length articles resulting from the same studies. The abstracts for poster presentation sessions were downloaded, and basic characteristics of the abstracts and their authors were determined. A PubMed search was then performed to identify the publication of full-length articles based on those abstracts in a peer-reviewed journal. The differences between the abstract and the article were examined and categorized as major and minor differences. Differences identified included authorship, title, materials and methods, results, conclusions, and funding. Data were analyzed with both descriptive and analytic statistics. Overall, 89 percent of the abstracts had at least one variation from its corresponding article, and 65 percent and 76 percent of the abstracts had at least one major and minor variation, respectively, from its corresponding article. The most prevalent major variation was in study results, and the most prevalent minor variation was change in the number of authors. The discussion speculates on some possible reasons for these differences.

Vocal complaint in physical education teachers and its association with the cardiovascular system

Background: We examined the vocal complaints and evaluated the correlation between the vocal handicap index (VHI) and heart rate variability (HRV) in physical education teachers. We evaluated 46 teachers. Method: The subjects were investigated regarding voice complaint and the VHI was applied. HRV was recorded at seated rest for ten minutes and it was analyzed in the time, frequency domains, geometric indices and fractal exponents. The three domains of the VHI were correlated with the indices of HRV. Results: The physical education teachers presented a VHI score much below the standard of the physiological normality. There was correlation of the organic domain of the VHI with the NN50 and pNN50 and correlation of the functional domain and organic domain of the VHI with the HF index of HRV. Conclusion: The physical education teachers evaluated reported vocal complaints that affected their function and it is suggested to be related with the cardiac autonomic regulation.