Levels of Evidence in Orthopaedic Trauma Literature

OBJECTIVE: To review and critically assess trends observed regarding the levels of evidence in published articles in orthopaedic traumatology literature. DATA SOURCES: The Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-American, and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. STUDY SELECTION: All articles from the years 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2013 in The Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma (JOT) and orthopaedic trauma-related articles from The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-American (JBJS-A) and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research (CORR) were analyzed. Articles were categorized by type and ranked for level of evidence according to guidelines from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. DATA EXTRACTION: Study type and standardized level of evidence were determined for each article. Articles were subcategorized as high-level evidence (I, II), moderate-level evidence (III), and low-level evidence (IV, V). DATA SYNTHESIS: During the study period, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-American reduced its low-level studies from 80% to 40% (P = 0.00015), Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research decreased its low-level studies from 70% to 27%, and Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma decreased its low-level studies from 78% to 45%. Level IV and V therapeutic, prognostic, and diagnostic studies demonstrated significant decreases during the study period (P = 0.0046, P < 0.0001, P = 0.026). The percentage of high-level studies increased from 13% to 19%; however, this was not significant (P = 0.42). There was a trend showing an increase in level I and II studies for therapeutic, prognostic, and diagnostic studies (P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: There has been a statistically significant decrease in lower level of evidence studies published in the orthopaedic traumatology literature over the past 15 years.