Clinical Level of Evidence Presented at the Lumbar Spine Research Society (LSRS) Annual Meeting Over 10 Years (2008-2017): A Systematic Review.

Study Design: A systematic review.

Objective: The Lumbar Spine Research Society (LSRS) is dedicated to advancing knowledge of the lumbar spine to promote evidence-based care. We sought to systematically review the level of clinical evidence presented at LSRS annual meetings from 2008 through 2017.

Summary Of Background Data: Improvements in clinical evidence have been reported at similar bone and joint scientific meetings.

Methods: A total of 458 paper abstracts presented at LSRS annual meetings were independently assessed by two reviewers. Only clinical studies being included for analysis. Reviewers designated a clinical level of evidence (LOE) to each included abstract from level I to level IV based on criteria set forth by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Reviewer agreement was assessed using Cohens Kappa coefficient (k). Student t test was used to assess for differences in mean LOE grades. Chi-squared testing was used to assess nonrandom changes in LOE.

Results: A total of 299 abstracts met inclusion criteria. Over the last 10 LSRS meetings, 2.68% of the presentations were level I, 22.4% were level II, 37.1% were level III, and 37.8% were level IV. We found the average LOE from 2008 to 2017 to be 3.10 (median = 3). In addition, 63.9% presentations were Therapeutic Studies, 30.1% were Prognostic Studies, and 6.02% were Diagnostic studies. When comparing the first 5 years (2008-2012) to the last 5 years (2013-2017), we observed a significant increase in Level II (P < 0.05) and Level III (P < 0.05) evidence along with a corresponding decrease in level IV evidence (P < 0.01). The average LOE improved significantly from 3.28 (2008-2012) to 2.88 (2013-2017) (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Emphasis on evidence-based medicine within spine surgery, specifically pertaining to the lumbar spine, has positively influenced the clinical LOE disseminated at LSRS annual meetings between 2008 and 2017.

Level Of Evidence: 4.