Publication Rate in English of Abstracts Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology

BACKGROUND

Relatively low publication rates of abstracts presented at scientific meetings (i.e., 37.3%, 95% CI: 35.3-39.3) have been reported across various fields worldwide. However, no study has investigated the publication rate of abstracts presented at psychiatric meetings and factors associated with full publication in Japan. This study aimed to determine the proportion of conference abstracts in the psychiatric field that reach full publication in English and its associated factors in Japan.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted to determine the publication rate of abstracts presented at the annual meetings of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN) in 2013 and 2014, the largest psychiatric meeting in Japan, by searching for full-text publications in PubMed and Google Scholar. Furthermore, we examined factors associated with a successful full publication of the conference abstract.

RESULTS

Of the 737 abstracts evaluated, 132 (17.9%) were published in peer-reviewed journals; the publication rates for oral and poster presentations were 12.7% (46/363) and 23.0% (86/374), respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, the following factors were significantly associated with successful publications: poster presentations (odds ratio [OR]: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.10-2.57), original studies (OR: 4.16, 95% CI: 2.44-7.47), and academic institutions (OR: 5.77, 95% CI: 3.44-10.19).

CONCLUSIONS

The publication rate in English of the conference abstracts presented at the JSPN annual meetings was relatively lower than those in previous studies. Further encouragement of the publication of the abstracts presented in psychiatric conferences in Japan would be helpful in disseminating scientific findings in the field of psychiatry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Drug Attitude, Insight, and Patient's Knowledge About Prescribed Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

INTRODUCTION

While patients' perspectives toward pharmacotherapy are expected to be directly influenced by their motivation and understanding of the treatment that they are currently receiving, no study has comprehensively investigated the impact of insight into illness and knowledge for the ongoing pharmacotherapy on the attitude towards drug treatment among patients with schizophrenia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One hundred forty-eight Japanese outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to the International Classification of Diseases 10th edition, were included (mean±SD age, 47.3±12.4 years; 90 men (60.8%)). Attitudes toward antipsychotic treatment and insight into illness were assessed with the Drug Attitude Inventory-10 (DAI-10) and the VAGUS, respectively. In addition, a multiple-choice questionnaire that was designed to examine patients' knowledge about therapeutic effects, types, and implicated neurotransmitters of antipsychotic drugs they were receiving was utilized.

RESULTS

The mean±SD of DAI-10 score was 4.7±4.2. The multiple regression analysis found that lower Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores, higher VAGUS scores, and longer illness duration were significantly associated with higher DAI-10 scores (β=-0.226, P=0.009; β=0.250, P=0.008; β=0.203, P=0.034, respectively). There was a significant difference in the DAI-10 scores between the subjects who gave more accurate answers regarding the effects of their primary antipsychotic and those who did not (mean±SD, 5.57±4.38 vs 4.13±4.04, P=0.043); however, this finding failed to survive the multiple regression analysis.

CONCLUSION

Better insight into illness and treatment, lower illness severity, longer illness duration, and possibly greater knowledge about the therapeutic effects of medications may lead to better attitudes towards pharmacotherapy among patients with schizophrenia, which has an important implication for this typically chronic mental condition requiring long-term antipsychotic treatment to sustain stability.