Characteristics, level of evidence, and impact of clinical studies on peri-implantitis: 2017-2021.

BACKGROUND: The level of evidence (LOE) is an important tool in current evidence-based practice and clinical research. However, in clinical studies on peri-implantitis, the present status of LOE and its association with research impact remains to be determined. The present study aimed to gather the characteristics and level of evidence (LOE) of clinical studies on peri-implantitis conducted during 2017-2021 and to assess the association of LOE with social and scientific impact.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The PubMed database was searched for retrieving clinical studies that evaluated peri-implantitis related healthcare interventions and were published between 2017 and 2021. A four-level modified Oxford 2011 LOE tool was used to determine the LOE of these studies. Citation count and Altmetric Attention Scores (AAS) were derived from Web of Science and Altmetric Explorer, respectively. Multivariate generalized estimation equation (GEE) analysis was conducted to explore relationships between LOE and citation count, and between LOE and AAS; the publication year was considered the grouping factor for adjusting for potential clustering effects.

RESULTS: Two hundred and thirty-five studies were considered eligible. The percentage of level-1 to level-4 studies was 9.8%, 35.7%, 28.9%, and 25.5%, respectively. Multivariable GEE analyses revealed that studies with higher LOE had significantly greater citation counts (p = 0.008). However, no significant association (p = 0.872) was observed between LOE and AAS.

CONCLUSIONS: During 2017-2021, more than 40% of high-LOE studies on peri-implantitis were published each year. High-LOE studies showed a tendency to have larger scientific impact. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.