Overall, 30% of abbreviations were never defined (29% general journal, 30% spinal journal). The average difference between the two tests was calculated and the results were analysed according to health profession groups – professions allied to medicine (nurses and physiotherapists), foundation year 1 doctors, senior house officers and equivalents, specialist registrars in orthopaedics and equivalents and consultant orthopaedic surgeons.Ī total of 171 papers were analysed from the 3-month period October–December 2006 (95 general orthopaedic and 76 spinal). They had no prior knowledge that they were to perform the task a second time. Ten minutes later, the subjects were asked to perform the same task again. The list of definitions was then shown to the subjects. They were asked to provide as many definitions as they could. As part of a presentation, each subject was given a list of 20 abbreviations taken from the articles examined. To test understanding of abbreviations, 43 orthopaedic healthcare professionals were given a questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using an unpaired t-test. The general orthopaedic journal and spinal journal were compared. The totals for abstract alone, article alone and combined abstract and article were recorded. The following was recorded: number of individual abbreviations, frequency of repetition of each individual abbreviation, the presence of a definition (including repeats of definition), whether an abbreviation was actually used after initial definition and the overall number of abbreviations. Abstracts and the articles full text were examined. Diagrams and figures from articles were not included. Editorials, letters and comment pages were excluded. We, therefore, analysed how healthcare professionals in local orthopaedic departments interpreted and remembered abbreviations using a questionnaire.Ĭonsecutive articles over a 3-month period (October–December 2006) from a general orthopaedic journal ( Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Britain) and a spinal journal ( Spine, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) were analysed. The senior author's experience of conference presentations and orthopaedic literature was that abbreviations were overused. We also wanted to compare the use of abbreviations in general orthopaedic and spinal journal articles. The aim of this study was to determine whether the guidelines regarding the use of abbreviations in orthopaedic literature were being adhered to. There are no published works that look specifically at the use of abbreviations in the orthopaedic literature or that compare different types of orthopaedic literature. 12 This can be a particular problem if listening to a conference presentation where the listener has to assimilate information quickly. 7 – 11 Reading uncommon abbreviations takes our brains longer as we have to decode the abbreviation through its parent words. 2 Some of this misunderstanding may stem from the fact that abbreviations may have multiple meanings. A review of paediatric notes and handover sheets found the use of abbreviations was wide-spread and not well understood. The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used on first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.’Ī previous study of medical and general surgical journals 6 showed that 43% of articles contained unfamiliar abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. 4 The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors states: 5 ‘Use only standard abbreviations use of non-standard abbreviations can be confusing to readers. Instructions to authors for the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (British volume) and Spine (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) state that the use of abbreviations should be kept to a minimum: ‘the style should be simple and direct, free from ambiguity and jargon, and with minimal use of abbreviations’, 3 and authors should ‘write out the full term for each abbreviation at its first use unless it is a standard unit of measure’. There are guidelines for the use of abbreviations in journal articles. 1 However, the overuse of abbreviations can be a source of irritation, misunderstanding or medical errors. They have become the shorthand of medicine. Abbreviations are useful because they simplify, facilitate, and accelerate communication. For the purposes of this study – where the difference is not of any significance – the term ‘abbreviation’ is used to mean either an abbreviation or an acronym. AIDS for acquired immuno-defi-ciency syndrome. An acronym is an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of each word in the name of something, pronounced as a word, e.g. An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase used chiefly in writing to represent the complete form, e.g. Abbreviations and acronyms are commonly used in medical literature, presentations and medical notes.
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