Fate of abstracts presented at the Turkish Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (TAOMS) meetings between 2007 and 2009

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the rate of peer-reviewed publication of abstracts presented at the annual meetings of the Turkish Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (TAOMS) and to identify the time to publication, subspecialty, and study design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All abstracts accepted for presentation at a TAOMS meeting between 2007 and 2009 were identified from a book of abstracts and were searched for publication using PubMed and Google Scholar. The following variables were evaluated: publication rate, type of presentation (oral or poster), time to publication, subspecialty, study design, and name of the journal in which the article was published. RESULTS: A total of 478 abstracts were presented at the TAOMS meetings between 2007 and 2009. Of these, 140 abstracts (29.3%) were subsequently published in peer-reviewed journals, including 38.2% of oral presentations and 26.6% of poster presentations. The mean time from presentation to publication was 22 months. Regarding publication fields, research and emerging technologies presentations had the highest publication rate (100%). With regard to study type, animal study (70.0%) and basic research (55.0%) had the highest publication rates. CONCLUSION: Only 29.3% of abstracts presented at the TAOMS meeting were subsequently published as full-text articles. This rate was found to be similar to the previously reported publication rates in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Comparison of Pressure Pain Threshold, Grip Strength, Dexterity and Touch Pressure of Dominant and Non-Dominant Hands within and Between Right- and Left-Handed Subjects

This study was done to evaluate differences in pressure pain threshold, grip strength, manual dexterity and touch pressure threshold in the dominant and non-dominant hands of right- and left-handed subjects, and to compare findings within and between these groups. Thirty-nine right-handed and twenty-one left-handed subjects participated in the study. Pressure pain threshold was assessed using a dolorimeter, grip strength was assessed with a hand-grip dynamometer, manual dexterity was evaluated using the VALPAR Component Work Sample-4 system, and touch pressure threshold was determined using Semmes Weinstein monofilaments. Results for the dominant and non-dominant hands were compared within and between the groups. In the right-handed subjects, the dominant hand was significantly faster with the VALPAR Component Work Sample-4, showed significantly greater grip strength, and had a significantly higher pressure pain threshold than the non-dominant hand. The corresponding results for the two hands were similar in the left-handed subjects. The study revealed asymmetrical manual performance in grip strength, manual dexterity and pressure pain threshold in right-handed subjects, but no such asymme-tries in left-handed subjects.