title: Research trends in evidence-based medicine: a joinpoint regression analysis of more than 50 years of publication data.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has developed as the dominant paradigm of assessment of evidence that is used in clinical practice. Since its development, EBM has been applied to integrate the best available research into diagnosis and treatment with the purpose of improving patient care. In the EBM era, a hierarchy of evidence has been proposed, including various types of research methods, such as meta-analysis (MA), systematic review (SRV), randomized controlled trial (RCT), case report (CR), practice guideline (PGL), and so on. Although there are numerous studies examining the impact and importance of specific cases of EBM in clinical practice, there is a lack of research quantitatively measuring publication trends in the growth and development of EBM. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was constructed to determine the scientific productivity of EBM research over decades.
  
  
  METHODS
  NCBI PubMed database was used to search, retrieve and classify publications according to research method and year of publication. Joinpoint regression analysis was undertaken to analyze trends in research productivity and the prevalence of individual research methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis indicates that MA and SRV, which are classified as the highest ranking of evidence in the EBM, accounted for a relatively small but auspicious number of publications. For most research methods, the annual percent change (APC) indicates a consistent increase in publication frequency. MA, SRV and RCT show the highest rate of publication growth in the past twenty years. Only controlled clinical trials (CCT) shows a non-significant reduction in publications over the past ten years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher quality research methods, such as MA, SRV and RCT, are showing continuous publication growth, which suggests an acknowledgement of the value of these methods. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of research method publication trends in EBM.
authors: University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam; Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org.
authors: Bui The
authors: BT
authors: Hung
authors: University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam; Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org.
authors: Nguyen Phuoc
authors: NP
authors: Long
authors: University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam; Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org.
authors: Le Phi
authors: le P
authors: Hung
authors: University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam; Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org.
authors: Nguyen Thien
authors: NT
authors: Luan
authors: Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org; School of Medicine, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam.
authors: Nguyen Hoang
authors: NH
authors: Anh
authors: Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org; School of Medicine, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam.
authors: Tran Diem
authors: TD
authors: Nghi
authors: Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org; School of Medicine, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam.
authors: Mai Van
authors: MV
authors: Hieu
authors: Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org; University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Hue City, Hue, 53000, Vietnam.
authors: Nguyen Thi Huyen
authors: NT
authors: Trang
authors: Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org; Nagasaki University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan.
authors: Herizo Fabien
authors: HF
authors: Rafidinarivo
authors: University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam; Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org.
authors: Nguyen Ky
authors: NK
authors: Anh
authors: Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org; The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Hawkes
authors: Online Research Club, http://onlineresearchclub.org; Department of Clinical Product Development, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan.
authors: Nguyen Tien
authors: NT
authors: Huy
authors: Department of Immunogenetics, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan.
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Hirayama
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans