Assessing the Quality of Evidence Presented at Annual General Meetings: A 5-Year Retrospective Study

Bibliometric analysis and conversion rate of abstracts presented at the Brazilian Congress of Coloproctology into publication of full articles

INTRODUCTION

the presentation of research at a congress is an interesting means for scientific dissemination, but only with publication in an indexed journal does the data become accessible and disseminated. The conversion rate in published articles of abstracts presented at congresses is an indicator to assess the scientific quality of those events. The aim of this study is to evaluate bibliometric characteristics of abstracts presented at the Brazilian Congress of Coloproctology and to determine the factors that affect publication rates.

METHODS

Retrospective evaluation of all abstracts presented at the Brazilian Congresses of Coloproctology from 2015 to 2019. Multiple databases were analyzed to estimate the conversion rate of the presented papers, as well as variables associated with the conversion of abstracts into full manuscripts through bivariate analysis and multivariate variables of these predictors.

RESULTS

1756 abstracts were analyzed. Most studies are retrospective, series or case reports, and even personal experience. The conversion rate was 6.9%. The presence of statistical analysis was twice as high for published abstracts as for unpublished ones.

CONCLUSION

the data presented demonstrate a low scientific productivity of the specialty, since the research carried out is, for the most part, not published as complete manuscripts. The predictors of publication of abstracts were: multicenter studies, studies with statistical analysis, study designs with a higher level of evidence and studies awarded by the congress.

Rethinking Our Annual Congress-Meeting the Needs of Specialist Physicians by Partnering With Provincial Simulation Centers

Canada's maintenance of certification programs for physicians has evolved to emphasize assessment activities. Our organization recognized the importance of offering more practice assessment opportunities to our members to enhance their practice and help them comply with a regulation from our provincial professional body related to ongoing continuing education. This led us to rethink our annual congress and enrich the program with a curriculum of interdisciplinary simulation sessions tailored to meet the needs of a broad audience of specialists. Our challenges are similar to those of many national specialty societies having limited access to simulation facilities, instructors, and simulation teams that can cover the breadth and scope of perceived and unperceived simulation needs for their specialty. Our innovative solution was to partner with local experts to develop 22 simulation sessions over the past three years. The response was very positive, drawing 867 participants. Over 95% of participants either agreed or strongly agreed that their simulation session (1) met their learning objectives, (2) was relevant for their practice, and (3) encouraged them to modify their practice. Narrative comments from a survey sent to the 2018 participants four months after their activity indicated several self-reported changes in their practice or patient outcomes. We were able to centralize offers from organizations that had previously worked in silo to develop simulation sessions meeting the needs of our members. Proposing simulation sessions allowed our organization to establish long-term partnerships and to expend our "educational toolbox" to address skill gaps not usually addressed during annual meetings.

Digitalization of Institutions of Corporate Law: Current Trends and Future Prospects

Digital technologies have been integrated into all aspects of public life, including politics, law, finance, business, education, science, and society. As a result of the use of digital technologies by various subjects, a transformation has occurred of the economic relations existing in society, including corporate relations. This study analyzes the impact of digitalization on individual institutions of corporate law. The authors investigate the following aspects of the digitalization of corporate law: (1) digital legal personality of the corporation (online registration (e-residency) of corporations and the digital footprint that companies leave in public registers); (2) digital corporate governance; and (3) digital (network or decentralized) autonomous organizations. The purpose of this research is to identify trends and directions of transformation of individual institutions of corporate law in a digital society. The authors conclude that the digitalization of institutions of corporate law will result in: (1) the reinterpretation of certain concepts of corporate law, such as corporation and corporate governance; (2) the improvement of the legal mechanisms of corporate governance following the introduction of AI into the collegial executive bodies of corporations; (3) the digitalization of corporate assets; and (4) the emergence of new subjects of corporate and other relevant relations.

Assessing the Quality of Evidence Presented at the Annual Conferences of Diabetes Canada

OBJECTIVES

Annual general meetings (AGMs) are often seen and promoted as great sources of contemporary information for the modern health-care professional. The quality of research evidence presented at these conferences, however, remains unclear. This paper evaluates the level of evidence (LoE) of research presented at the 2015 to 2019 AGMs of Diabetes Canada (DC).

METHODS

Using the framework we first published to evaluate the LoE presented at the Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN) AGMs, 2 authors independently assigned eligible abstracts a study type and grade. Research assistants separately recorded corresponding author and city affiliations.

RESULTS

Of 832 published abstracts, 68% (N=568) met the inclusion criteria. These abstracts were classified as follows: 12% Level I (highest quality); 30% Level II; 36% Level III; 14% Level IV and 8% Level V (lowest quality). The LoE remained consistent over the 5-year study period, as observed by the Jonckheere-Terpstra test (p=0.754). The LoE of DC AGMs was similar to that of CSN AGMs (p=0.125). The number of authors was positively associated with improved LoE (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our novel auditing methodology, the LoE of DC AGMs is on par with other analyzed national AGMs. Adoption of this metric for all AGMs would aid in identifying unfavourable trends and alert planning and abstract selection committees of trends in LoE. Such studies will increase transparency for stakeholders and facilitate quality improvement initiatives.