Publishing trends in the field of pediatric emergency medicine from 2004 to 2013

Objective: To identify publishing trends within the field of pediatric emergency medicine between 2004 and 2013. Methods: We conducted a MEDLINE search of pediatric emergency medicine articles, filtered by clinical trial, published between 2004 and 2013 in ten journals from the fields of pediatrics, emergency medicine, general medicine, and pediatric emergency medicine. Each article was classified by journal type, study design, results (positive or negative/equivocal), age/type of subjects, and major topic (based on the objective of the study). Articles were stratified by publication period (2004-2008 or 2009-2013) to analyze trends. Results: A total of 464 articles were analyzed. The majority of articles were described as randomized-controlled trials (47%) with negative/equivocal findings (70%). The most common major topics were pain management, asthma, sedation, bronchiolitis, resuscitation, simulation, and ultrasound. Over time, the percentage of articles published in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine journals increased (P = 0.0499) and the percentage for all study designs increased except for randomized controlled trials (P = 0.0089). There were no differences between the 2 publication periods when stratified by results, age/type of subjects, and major topic. Conclusions: By identifying these trends, we hope to encourage researchers to perform studies in the field of pediatric emergency medicine where deficiencies lie and to guide pediatric health care professionals to where published, evidence-based studies can be found in the medical literature.