J Arthroplasty. 2023 Aug 11. pii: S0883-5403(23)00816-1. [Epub ahead of print]
BACKGROUND: Social media platforms are often used for research dissemination and collaboration. Given the increased prevalence of online-only publications, understanding what drives research dissemination is important. Here, we analyzed factors associated with increased social media attention among peer-reviewed publications in total knee arthroplasty (TKA), total hip arthroplasty (TKA), and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA).METHODS: We analyzed publications about TKA, THA, or UKA from 2010 to 2022 using a national database. We analyzed a weighted count of social media mentions, using negative binomial regressions adjusting for days since publication. Publications on "hot topics" in arthroplasty were examined including navigation/robotics, COVID-19, race/ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), and reimbursement. There were 9,542 publications included, 4,216 (44%) were open access, 338 (3.5%) included navigation, 32 (0.34%) discussed race/ethnicity, 20 (0.2%) discussed COVID-19, 3,840 (40%) were randomized studies, 30 (0.3%) discussed reimbursement, and 2,867 (30%) were in top 10 orthopaedic journals.
RESULTS: Factors associated with higher weighted score included studies about COVID-19 (50 vs. 6.0, P<0.001), race/ethnicity (15.8 vs. 6.0, P <0.001), open access status (6.3 vs. 5.8, P =0.001), and randomized studies (6.5 vs. 5.7, P <0.001). Studies from top-10 journals had a lower score (5.8 vs. 6.2, P=0.025), as did studies about body mass index (3.4 vs. 6.1, P =0.001). Studies about navigation and reimbursement did not have significantly different scores.
CONCLUSION: Studies on COVID-19, race/ethnicity, randomized studies, and open access publication were associated with increased social media while those in top-10 orthopaedic journals had lower scores.
Keywords: Attention Score; Hot Topics; Total Hip Arthroplasty; Total Knee Arthroplasty; Uni-compartmental Hip Arthroplasty