Publication Rates of Podium Versus Poster Presentations at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Meetings 2008-2012

Purpose: To analyze the publication rate of poster and podium presentations at Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) annual meetings from 2008 to 2012. Methods: An online search using PubMed and Google Scholar for all published manuscripts associated with abstracts presented from 2008 to 2012 AANA annual meetings was performed. Abstracts were classified by presentation type (poster vs podium), and the journal and publication date were recorded for all published abstracts. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and Fisher's exact tests were performed, with P < .05 considered significant. Results: A total of 1,508 abstracts were submitted to AANA annual meetings from 2008 to 2012, with 976 abstracts accepted for presentation (65% overall acceptance rate). There were 328 podium (22% acceptance rate) and 648 poster (43% acceptance rate) presentations. Of the 976 accepted abstracts, 479 (49%) were published within 3 years in peer-reviewed journals. The overall publication rates for podium and poster presentations were 59% (n = 193) and 44% (n = 286), respectively. Podium presentations were significantly more likely to be published within 3 years compared with poster presentations (P < .0001; odds ratio 1.8095, confidence interval 1.3826-2.3682). There were no differences in time to publication between podium and poster presentations (1.3 +/- 1.2 vs 1.1 +/- 1.3 years, P = .0633). Over the 5-year study period, the overall abstract acceptance rate (P < .0001) and the rate of abstracts accepted for poster presentation (P < .0001) increased significantly over time, whereas there was no increase in the rate of abstracts accepted for podium presentation (P = .5638). The most common journals of publication were Arthroscopy (n = 157, 32.7%) followed by American Journal of Sports Medicine (n = 93, 19.4%). Conclusions: The overall publication rate of abstracts presented at AANA annual meetings is 49%, with podium presentations 1.8 times more likely to be published than poster presentations. The overall abstract acceptance rate and the rate of abstracts accepted for poster presentation increased significantly over time, whereas there was no significant increase in the rate of abstracts accepted for podium presentation. Clinical Relevance: The publication rates of abstracts presented at the AANA annual meetings demonstrate the meetings' impact and importance to the advancement of the scientific literature.