Has the quality of sgs research improved over the years?

Abstract

The Society of Gynecologic Surgeons’ (SGS) mission is to disseminate knowledge and promote excellence in gynecologic surgery through advancements in research and education. Members are various specialists from both private and academic practice. We aim to determine if the society’s mission has been achieved by examining the increase in research quality measured by the distribution of types of study presented at the SGS Annual meeting. Further, we aim to compare differences in research quality before and after the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) designated Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) an accredited subspecialty in 2011. All oral and oral poster presentation abstracts from SGS annual meetings between 2007 to 2021 were reviewed by two investigators, and discrepancies adjudicated by a third investigator. Data extraction included year of abstract, presentation type (oral vs oral poster), study type, and subspecialty topic [FPMRS, Reproductive Endocrinology (REI), Gynecologic Oncology (ONC), Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS), General Gynecology (GYN), or other]. Study type was classified from highest quality to lowest quality and included systematic review/ meta-analysis, randomized control trial (RCT), cohort (retrospective or prospective), case-control, cross-sectional, case series/case report, expert opinion, and “other.” The number and categories of presentations was tallied by year and compared. FPMRS studies were further tallied in two groups: before 2011 (accreditation) and after 2011, and groups compared. Data were described as counts/percentages and compared with chi-square. A total of 623 abstracts were reviewed, 305 oral and 318 oral poster presentations. The most common study was a cohort (36.1%), followed by case series or case report (27.7%), and RCT (14.4%). Over the last 15 years, subspecialty representation included 423 (68%) FPMRS, 40 (9.6%) MIGS, 114 (18%) GYN, 20 (3.2%) ONC, 1 (0.1%) REI, and 5 (0.8%) Other. Over time the distribution of type of study changed, p=0.03 and RCT studies increased (Figure 1). The number of high-level studies (RCTs and cohorts) among FPMRS studies has improved after ABMS accreditation in 2011 (p = 0.003, Figure 2). The quality of research presented at SGS annual meetings has increased since 2007 (more RCTs). FPMRS is the most represented subspecialty at SGS annual scientific meetings in the past decade and these studies have most notably demonstrated an increase in quality coinciding with formal ABMS accreditation in 2011.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)