Gholizadeh H , Ale Ebrahim N, Eshraghi A, Lemaire E.D. RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS IN PROSTHETICS AND ORTHOTICS IN CANADA. CANADIAN PROSTHETICS & ORTHOTICS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2, 2018; ABSTRACT, POSTER PRESENTATION AT THE AOPA’S 101ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEPT. 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018. https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32027 1 OPEN ACCESS AOPA’S 101 ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ABSTRACTS, SEPTEMBER 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018 ABSTRACT (POSTER PRESENTATION) RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS IN PROSTHETICS AND ORTHOTICS IN CANADA Hossein Gholizadeh 1* , Nader Ale Ebrahim 2, Arezoo Eshraghi3, Edward D Lemaire 1 ,4 1Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Centre for Rehabilitation Research and Development, Ottawa, Canada. 2 Research Support Unit, Centre of Research Services, University of Malaya, Malaysia. 3 Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Canada. 4 University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. * Email: gholizadeh87@yahoo.com INTRODUCTION The Canadian Survey on Disability reported about 3.8 million Canadians between 15 and 64 years lived with a disability in 20121, and more than 80% used an assistive device. Innovation, research, and unrestricted access to knowledge in prosthetics and orthotics is vital to improve a person’s quality of life, removing barriers, and integrating people with functional and mobility limitations into their society. Therefore, this study examined trends in prosthetics and orthotics research in Canada. METHODS Scopus database was searched for prosthetics and orthotics articles with Canadian origin in the last 30 years (1988-1997, 1998-2007, 2008-2017). Publications from Canada and the top ten countries were compared with the highest number of publication in this field, to find publication trends and forecast future trends (2018 to 2027). RESULTS The number of prosthetics and orthotics research publications showed a positive trend in the world and Canada (Figure 1). Research productivity was more pronounced in orthotics versus prosthetics. Table 1 compares the top ten countries with the most published articles. The United States ranked first followed by United Kingdom. Canada was third in orthotics and fourth in prosthetics, after Germany. Journals that published the most prosthetics and orthotics research were not open access. CONCLUSION Research publication trends in orthotics and prosthetics is promising in Canada. While statistics show a positive global trend in the number of published articles, the number of journals that specifically publish prosthetics and orthotics research did not change, and few articles in these journals choose the optional open access publishing format. People with disabilities, including amputation, are a main consumer of research and innovations in this field. More publications in unrestricted access (open access) journals may enhance access to new knowledge and research in prosthetics and orthotics. Figure 1: Publication trends in prosthetics and orthotics in the world (top) and Canada (bottom). DOI: https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32027 https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32027 https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32027 Gholizadeh H , Ale Ebrahim N, Eshraghi A, Lemaire E.D. RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS IN PROSTHETICS AND ORTHOTICS IN CANADA. CANADIAN PROSTHETICS & ORTHOTICS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2, 2018; ABSTRACT, POSTER PRESENTATION AT THE AOPA’S 101ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEPT. 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018. https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32027 2 OPEN ACCESS AOPA’S 101 ST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ABSTRACTS, SEPTEMBER 26-29, VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2018 ABSTRACT (POSTER PRESENTATION) Table 1: Top ten countries with the most publications. Percentages are change from the previous 10 years. Prosthetic research 1988-1997 1998-2007 2008-2017 World 1424 2123 (49 %) 5110 (141%) US 465 589 (27%) 1644 (180%) UK 181 253 (40%) 510 (99%) Germany 74 148 (100%) 344 (132%) Canada 118 114 (-3%) 248 (118%) Italy 25 82 (228%) 269 (228%) Netherland 57 87 (53%) 226 (160%) China 8 73 (812%) 288 (259%) France 35 98 (180%) 167 (70%) Australia 30 43 (43%) 186 (333%) Sweden 27 51 (89%) 126 (147%) Orthotic research 1988-1997 1998-2007 2008-2017 World 2760 5584 (102%) 10361 (86%) US 1287 2000 (55%) 3258 (63%) UK 273 656 (140%) 1005 (53%) Canada 107 294 (175%) 558 (90%) Japan 125 319 (155%) 469 (47%) Australia 50 265 (430%) 503 (90%) China 14 81 (479%) 687 (748%) Italy 41 143 (248%) 501 (250%) Germany 69 202 (193%) 406 (101%) Netherland 45 196 (336%) 287 (45%) Iran 5 22 (340%) 412 (1773%) DISCLOSURE There is no conflict of interest in this study. REFERENCES 1) Disability in Canada: Initial findings from the Canadian Survey on Disability. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-654- x/89-654-x2013002-eng.pdf (accessed 31October 2018). https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v1i2.32027 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-654-x/89-654-x2013002-eng.pdf http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-654-x/89-654-x2013002-eng.pdf