Research Study Characteristics Associated with Media Engagement in Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Database Studies

Abstract

Objectives: This study identified associations between a study’s Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) and the number of times it was posted on X (formerly Twitter) with article characteristics such as the topic or publishing journal. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Articles published in the orthopedic literature. Article Selection: A total of 116 eligible articles using administrative databases or clinical registries published in 2020 in four orthopaedic journals were studied. Intervention: None. Main Outcome Measurements: Each of the 116 selected articles was assigned one of the following topics: complications and outcomes, technology, medications and/or anesthesia, logistics, and surgical techniques. AAS and X posts for each article were retrieved. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to identify differences in the AAS and X posts across journals and topics. Results: Kruskal-Wallis tests revealed a difference between an article’s publishing journal and its AAS (p = 0.034) and number of X posts (p = 0.032), with articles published in the Bone & Joint Journal (BJJ) having the greatest mean AAS (16.27) and X posts (25.73). Kruskal-Wallis tests showed a difference between an article’s topic and its AAS (p = 0.001) and number of X posts (p= 0.027), with articles focused on surgical techniques having the greatest mean AAS (26.50) and X posts (37.00). Conclusions: There is significant variation in the degree of media engagement for hip and knee arthroplasty database studies. The topic of the article (surgical techniques) and journal of publication (BJJ) were associated with a greater level of engagement. Level of Evidence: Level V.