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Brown K, Flores MJ, Haonga B, Chokotho LC, O'Marr JM, Rodarte P, Shearer D, Morshed S. Best Practices for Developing International Academic Partnerships in Orthopaedics. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2024; 106:924-930. [PMID: 37851955 DOI: 10.2106/jbjs.23.00626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Traumatic and nontraumatic orthopaedic conditions are major contributors to global morbidity and account for the majority of life-years lived with disability worldwide. Additionally, the burden of musculoskeletal injuries has increased substantially over the past 3 decades. Unfortunately, in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), access to orthopaedic care is limited, leading to a disproportionate burden of disease. The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery has emphasized the urgent need for unified international commitment and research collaboration to achieve universal access to safe and affordable surgical care. However, conducting high-quality orthopaedic research in LMICs remains challenging as a result of disparities in training, access to resources, infrastructure, and equipment availability. Partnerships between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs have emerged in recent decades as an effective approach to combatting some of these challenges. These partnerships aim to bridge the gaps by facilitating collaborative research and knowledge exchange. The establishment of successful partnerships requires a collaborative and reciprocal approach that starts with a clear understanding of mutual research aims and the availability of resources. Despite the potential benefits, various factors can make establishing such partnerships difficult. However, these partnerships can have a substantial impact in delivering quality orthopaedic education and research training, thus improving access to care in resource-limited environments. This paper represents the collaborative effort of multiple international academic orthopaedic surgeons with extensive experience in HIC-LMIC partnerships. Our aims were to outline the best practices for conducting orthopaedic research within these relationships and to provide guidance for future successful collaborations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsey Brown
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Michael J Flores
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Billy Haonga
- Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | | | - Jamieson M O'Marr
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Patricia Rodarte
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - David Shearer
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Saam Morshed
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
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Sabharwal S, Leung A, Rodarte P, Singh G, Bwemelo JJ, Taylor AS, Tan J, Trott R. Peer-reviewed publications in orthopaedic surgery from lower income countries: A comparative analysis. SICOT J 2024; 10:6. [PMID: 38305681 PMCID: PMC10836199 DOI: 10.1051/sicotj/2023039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Musculoskeletal (MSK) disease is a substantial global burden, especially in lower income countries. However, limited research has been published on MSK health by scholars from these countries. We aimed to study the distribution of authorships, including trends in peer-reviewed orthopaedic publications based on each author's affiliated institution's country income status. METHODS Based on a bibliometric search, 119 orthopaedic-related journals were identified using the Journal Citation Reports database. Details of all scientific articles published in these journals between 2012 and 2021 were used to study trends and association between each of the author's affiliated institution's country income status, using the World Bank Classification. RESULTS Of the 133,718 unique articles, 87.6% had at least one author affiliation from a high-income country (HIC), 7.0% from an upper-middle income country (UMIC), 5.2% from a lower-middle income country (LMIC), and 0.2% from a low-income country (LIC). Overall, these articles were cited 1,825,365 times, with 92.5% of citations from HIC-affiliated authors and < 0.1% from LIC-affiliated authors. Over the 10-year study period, HIC-affiliated articles demonstrated the largest increase in the number of publications (9107-14,619), compared to UMIC-affiliated (495-1214), LMIC-affiliated (406-874), and LIC-affiliated articles (4-28). CONCLUSIONS There are large and persistent disparities in orthopaedic research publications based on the country income status of the author's affiliated institution, especially in the higher impact orthopaedic journals. Efforts should be made to increase opportunities for scholars from LICs and LMICs to publish their research in high-impact orthopaedic journals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjeev Sabharwal
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery 747 52nd Street Oakland CA 94609 USA
- Institute of Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology (IGOT) 2540 23rd Street, Building 7 San Francisco CA 94110 USA
| | - Andrea Leung
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery 747 52nd Street Oakland CA 94609 USA
| | - Patricia Rodarte
- Institute of Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology (IGOT) 2540 23rd Street, Building 7 San Francisco CA 94110 USA
| | - Gurbinder Singh
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery 747 52nd Street Oakland CA 94609 USA
| | | | - Annelise S. Taylor
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery 747 52nd Street Oakland CA 94609 USA
| | - Josephine Tan
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery 747 52nd Street Oakland CA 94609 USA
| | - Richard Trott
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery 747 52nd Street Oakland CA 94609 USA
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Rodarte P, O'Marr J, Haonga B, Patrick D, Niknam K, Urva M, Cortez A, Metsemakers WJ, Shearer D, Morshed S. Diagnostic Performance of a telephone questionnaire for fracture-related infections (FRIs) in open tibia fracture patients in Tanzania. Injury 2024; 55:111179. [PMID: 37972489 DOI: 10.1016/j.injury.2023.111179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Fracture-related infections (FRIs) are a major cause of trauma-associated morbidity worldwide. In 2018, an expert group supported by the AO Foundation, European Bone and Joint Infection Society developed a consensus definition of FRI. Still, there is limited knowledge on the applicability of this definition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Given the unique barriers that cause low follow-up rates for orthopaedic trauma patients in LMICs, this study aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a telephone questionnaire in identifying patients with FRIs after open tibia fracture fixation in Tanzania. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients from a randomized controlled trial investigating the infection prevention benefit of locally applied gentamycin for open tibial fractures were included. Patients completed FRI based telephone questionnaires 7-10 days prior to scheduled follow-ups at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 1 year. The questionnaire included two "confirmatory" criteria questions for FRI (i.e., open wound and purulent drainage) and three "suggestive" criteria questions (i.e., wound drainage, fever, and warmth). Contingency tests were performed to identify the sensitivity and specificity between answers and adjudicated FRI diagnoses at the corresponding in-person follow-up. Data was analysed using STATA version 15.0 and MedCalc's online diagnostic test calculator. RESULTS There were a total of 234 complete questionnaires and 85 unique patients included. The sensitivity and specificity of having any positive answer in the questionnaire was highest at 6 months (100 % and 92.5 %, respectively). For all time-points pooled, sensitivity was 71.4 % and specificity was 93.0 %. Drainage had the highest sensitivity (71.4 %) while fever had the highest specificity (99.6 %). For confirmatory criteria, sensitivity was 14.3 % and specificity was 96.0 %. Contrastingly, the sensitivity for suggestive criteria was higher (71.4 %), with a similar specificity (93.8 %). CONCLUSION Our study indicates that telephone questionnaires have adequate diagnostic performance when assessing FRIs. The presence of drainage identified the majority of patients with FRI, and specificities were high across confirmatory and suggestive criteria. Our study is one of the first to evaluate telephone questionnaires as a diagnostic tool for FRIs in patients with open tibia fractures in a LMIC hospital and validates the FRI consensus definition criteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Rodarte
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jamieson O'Marr
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Billy Haonga
- Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | | | - Kian Niknam
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Mayur Urva
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Abigail Cortez
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Willem-Jan Metsemakers
- Department of Trauma Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - David Shearer
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Saam Morshed
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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Cortez A, Urva M, Haonga B, Donnelley CA, von Kaeppler EP, Roberts HJ, Shearer DW, Morshed S. Outcomes of Intramedullary Nailing and External Fixation of Open Tibial Fractures: Three to Five-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Clinical Trial. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2022; 104:1877-1885. [PMID: 35980080 DOI: 10.2106/jbjs.22.00016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While surgeons in low and middle-income countries have increasing experience with intramedullary nailing (IMN), external fixation (EF) continues to be commonly used for the management of open tibial fractures. We examined outcomes with extended follow-up of the participants enrolled in a clinical trial comparing these treatments. METHODS Adults who were ≥18 years old with acute AO/OTA type-42 open tibial shaft fractures were randomly assigned to statically locked, hand-reamed IMN or uniplanar EF. These participants were reevaluated 3 to 5 years after treatment. The primary outcome was death or reoperation for the treatment of deep infection, nonunion, or malalignment. Unresolved complications such as persistent fracture-related infection, nonunion, or malalignment were collected and analyzed. Secondary outcomes included the EuroQol-5 Dimension-3 Level (EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire, the Function IndeX for Trauma (FIX-IT) score, radiographic alignment, and the modified Radiographic Union Scale for Tibial fractures (mRUST). RESULTS Of the originally enrolled 240 participants,126 (67 managed with IMN and 59 managed with EF) died or returned for follow-up at a mean of 4.0 years (range, 2.9 to 5.2 years). Thirty-two composite primary events occurred, with rates of 23.9% and 27.1% in the IMN and EF groups, respectively. Six of these events (3 in the IMN group and 3 in the EF group) were newly detected after the original 1-year follow-up. Unresolved complications in the form of chronic fracture-related infection or nonunion were present at long-term follow-up in 25% of the participants who sustained a primary event. The EQ-5D-3L index scores were similar between the 2 groups and only returned to preinjury levels after 1 year among patients without complications or those whose complications resolved. CONCLUSIONS This observational study extended follow-up for a clinical trial assessing IMN versus EF for the treatment of open tibial fractures in sub-Saharan Africa. At a mean of 4 years after injury, fracture-related infection and nonunion became chronic conditions in nearly a quarter of the participants who experienced these complications, regardless of reintervention. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level IV . See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail Cortez
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.,Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California
| | - Mayur Urva
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California
| | - Billy Haonga
- Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Claire A Donnelley
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California
| | - Ericka P von Kaeppler
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California
| | - Heather J Roberts
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California
| | - David W Shearer
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California
| | - Saam Morshed
- Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California.,Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California
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Predictors of Loss to Follow-up in Hip Fracture Trials: A Secondary Analysis of the FAITH and HEALTH Trials. J Orthop Trauma 2020; 34 Suppl 3:S22-S28. [PMID: 33027162 DOI: 10.1097/bot.0000000000001928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hip fracture trials often suffer substantial loss to follow-up due to difficulties locating and communicating with participants or when participants, or their family members, withdraw their consent. We aimed to determine which factors were associated with being unable to contact FAITH and HEALTH participants for their 24-month follow-up and to also determine which factors were associated with their withdrawal of consent. METHODS We conducted 2 multivariable logistic regression analyses to determine which factors were predictive of being unable to contact participants at 24 months postfracture and withdrawal of consent within 24 months of their fracture. Results were reported as odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals, and associated P-values. All tests were 2-tailed with alpha = 0.05. RESULTS We were unable to contact 123 of 2520 participants (4.9%) for their 24-month follow-up visits and 124 (4.9%) withdrew their consent from the trial. Being non-White (P = 0.003), enrolled from a non-European hospital (P < 0.001), and treated with arthroplasty (P < 0.001) were associated with an increased odds of not completing the 24-month follow-up visit. Being enrolled from a hospital in the United States (P = 0.02), from a hospital in Oceania, India, or South Africa (P < 0.001) as compared to a European hospital, and treated with arthroplasty (P < 0.001) were associated with an increased odds of consent withdrawal. DISCUSSION Certain factors may be predictive of loss to follow-up in hip fracture trials. We suggest that the identification of such factors may be used to inform and improve retention strategies in future orthopaedic hip fracture trials. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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