Abstract Details

Title Newsworthiness Of Neurological Research

Topic General Neurology

Presentation(s) S51 - General Neurology: Models of Clinical Care and Disease (1:48 PM-2:00 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 005

Objective To evaluate news coverage received by neurological research and factors
associated with its newsworthiness.

Background Informing public of latest scientific breakthroughs is important to any
research field. Popular news media remains the most impactful means of research
dissemination. We, therefore, evaluated factors that determine the newsworthiness
of neurological research.

Design/Methods Original research articles from the year 2016 in the top 5 neurological
journals, based on impact factor, were extracted. Individual research article was
reviewed for the subspecialty, study design, funding source, continent and institute of
origin. Dimensions, an online platform, was used to find the number of news and
Twitter mentions and open access status. Articles receiving a news mention were
considered ‘newsworthy’. Logistic regression models for “newsworthiness” were
performed.

Results Of the 1050 research articles included, 551 (52.5%) were newsworthy, with a
median of 2 [inter-quartile range (IQR) = 1 – 10] news mentions. Newsworthy articles
were significantly more likely to have a higher number of tweets [Odds ratio (OR) =
1.04 (1.03 – 1.05), p <0.001] and open-access (OR = 1.63 (1.22 – 2.17), p = 0.02).
Newsworthiness was not associated with study design, article type, funding status and
continent or institute of origin. Publication in JAMA Neurology [OR = 2.86 (1.39 –
6.1), p = 0.005] and the Lancet Neurology [OR = 2.86 (1.39 – 6.1), p = 0.005]
affected newsworthiness. Articles on cognitive neurology were 22 times [OR = 22.62
(11.48 – 47.95), p <0.001] more likely to be newsworthy.

Conclusions Close to half of the research articles published in the top neurology
journals do not receive any news mention. Newsworthiness is associated with the
popularity of research articles on social media and studies on Cognitive neurology
seem to be of particularly high interest in news media. Future research to understand
the impact of newsworthiness on clinical outcomes is required.

Authors/Disclosures
Isha Snehal, MBBS PRESENTER	Dr. Snehal has nothing to disclose.
Appaji Rayi, MD, FAAN (Charleston Area Medical Center)	Dr. Rayi has nothing to disclose.
Vineet Punia, MD (Cleveland Clinic)	Dr. Punia has nothing to disclose.

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