Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32442235›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2020

Impact of surgical intervention trials on healthcare: A systematic review of assessment methods, healthcare outcomes, and determinants.

Juliëtte J C M van Munster, Amir H Zamanipoor Najafabadi, Nick P de Boer, Wilco C Peul, Wilbert B van den Hout, Peter Paul G van Benthem

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Maximizing Surgical Success by Aligning Interventions to Outcomes: A Systematic Review.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Juliëtte J C M van MunsterDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1670-1800
Amir H Zamanipoor NajafabadiLeiden University Neurosurgical Center Holland (UNCH), LUMC and The Hague Medical Center (HMC), Leiden, the Netherlands.
Nick P de BoerDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Wilco C PeulLeiden University Neurosurgical Center Holland (UNCH), LUMC and The Hague Medical Center (HMC), Leiden, the Netherlands.
Wilbert B van den HoutDepartment of Biomedical Data Science-Medical Decision Making, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Peter Paul G van BenthemDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Leiden University Medical Center · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFrameworks used in research impact evaluation studies vary widely and it remains unclear which methods are most appropriate for evaluating research impact in the field of surgical research. Therefore, we aimed to identify and review the methods used to assess the impact of surgical intervention trials on healthcare and to identify determinants for surgical impact.

methodsWe searched journal databases up to March 10, 2020 for papers assessing the impact of surgical effectiveness trials on healthcare. Two researchers independently screened the papers for eligibility and performed a Risk of Bias assessment. Characteristics of both impact papers and trial papers were summarized. Univariate analyses were performed to identify determinants for finding research impact, which was defined as a change in healthcare practice.

resultsSixty-one impact assessments were performed in 37 included impact papers. Some surgical trial papers were evaluated in more than one impact paper, which provides a total of 38 evaluated trial papers. Most impact papers were published after 2010 (n = 29). Medical records (n = 10), administrative databases (n = 22), and physician's opinion through surveys (n = 5) were used for data collection. Those data were analyzed purely descriptively (n = 3), comparing data before and after publication (n = 29), or through time series analyses (n = 5). Significant healthcare impact was observed 49 times and more often in more recent publications. Having impact was positively associated with using medical records or administrative databases (ref.: surveys), a longer timeframe for impact evaluation and more months between the publication of the trial paper and the impact paper, data collection in North America (ref.: Europe), no economic evaluation of the intervention, finding no significant difference in surgical outcomes, and suggesting de-implementation in the original trial paper. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Research impact evaluation receives growing interest, but still a small number of impact papers per year was identified. The analysis showed that characteristics of both surgical trial papers and impact papers were associated with finding research impact. We advise to collect data from either medical records or administrative databases, with an evaluation time frame of at least 4 years since trial publication.

Indexed as

Clinical Trials as TopicQuality of Health CareResearch DesignSurgical Procedures, OperativeHumansTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID32442235
PMCPMC7244162
OpenAlexW3027196499

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.