چکیده (انگلیسی):

Objectives: To evaluate the quantity and quality of published vascular surgery
research articles from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries so as to identify areas
for improvement.
Design: Descriptive study.
Materials: Published MEDLINE articles on vascular surgery from the GCC countries (1960e2010).
Methods: Critical analysis of the articles.
Results: A total of 146 articles were studied, majority of which were case series/case reports
(55.5%); 33% of the articles were prospective. The first author was from a university in 67.1% of
the articles. Only one randomized controlled trial was found. The median (range) impact factor
of the journals was 1.16 (0.16e12.64). Kuwait had the highest number of publications/country,
standardized/100,000 inhabitants. There were 11 experimental studies, which were all from
Kuwait. More statistically significant, experimental vascular surgery papers were published prior
to 1993 (11/30 compared with 0/111 afterward, p < 0.0001; Fisher exact test). The GCC countries
had the lowest vascular surgery research output compared with Turkey, Hong Kong, Singapore, and
Japan when standardized by the population. The h index of the GCC countries’ vascular research
publications was the lowest (19) compared with the other four countries (29e97). Furthermore,
the average citation of the GCC countries (5.81) was similar to Turkey (5.66), but less than Hong
Kong (17.38), Singapore (12.79), and Japan (11.75).
Conclusion: The quality and quantity of vascular surgery research in the GCC countries should be
improved to answer important local questions related to vascular diseases. This needs better strategic
planning and more collaboration between various institutions.