Research Output from the Irish Paediatric Hospitals in the Field of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Over 10 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis

OBJECTIVE: To the best of our knowledge, no bibliometric studies have characterised the paediatric anaesthesia research in Ireland. In this study, we aim to analyse the research output from two anaesthetic departments in Irish paediatric hospitals. METHODS: A Scopus database search was conducted to identify the publications from 2007 to 2018 of the departments of anaesthesia and intensive care medicine in the Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street (CUH), and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin (OLCHC). RESULTS: The Irish publications in paediatric anaesthesia and intensive care included 108 publications. CUH and OLCHC published 37 (34.9%) and 73 (68.8%) documents, respectively, with 6 (5.6%) documents affiliated with both hospitals. The number of original research articles was 28 (75.7%) for CUH versus 46 (63%) for OLCHC. The number of published reviews was 5 (13.5%) for CUH versus 11 (15.1%) for OLCHC. Over the last 2 years (2016, 2017), the number of OLCHC publications was almost double (13 and 14 publications) that of CUH (4 and 6 publications). For CUH, only two publications were in specialised journals. For OLCHC, 18 publications were in specialised journals, in addition to four publications in high-ranked journals. The mean impact factor for CUH publications was 3.78 (standard deviation [SD], 7.19) versus 4.52 (SD, 10.56) for OLCHC. From OLCHC, 20 authors published with a median h-index of 2.00 (interquartile range, 0–4.25), versus 14 authors form CUH with a median h-index of 1.50 (1.00–4.50). CONCLUSION: Anaesthetic publications from the two Irish paediatric hospitals are unexceptional and with limited cooperation between the two hospitals. Research plans should be implemented.