Publications pattern of clinical epilepsy research in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: To assess the progress in the field clinical epilepsy in Saudi Arabia, by analyzing in depth the research output productivity and publication pattern, and to identify the current situation of epilepsy research and offer solutions. METHOD: Literature search strategy was designed to retrieve accessible articles that are related to epilepsy utilizing PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase. The retrieved articles were analyzed with several parameters, then evaluated using Oxford Center of Evidence Based Medicine level of evidence scale. RESULTS: Of all identified articles, 90 were conducted in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and therefore were included. The included articles had a frequency of only 3.5 publications per year, and growth of 24.4% between the periods of 1990-2003 and 2004-2016. Only 13.3% of the articles were related to surgical epilepsy but the majority (86.7%) were related to medical epilepsy. Many articles (53.3%) were level III studies. The most common study design was retrospective studies in 35.6%, and the citations number ranged from 1–289 (Mean=7). CONCLUSION: Pattern of publications in clinical epilepsy researches revealed a slow growth rate in the frequency and a lower significance in the quality throughout the past 26 years. Active institutional and national promotion of clinical research is needed to help assess and therefore improve the quality of the provided epilepsy services.