What’s driving dermatology? Contribution title analysis of the largest German Dermatology Congress 2019

BACKGROUND: Every two years, German-speaking dermatologic specialist groups gather in Berlin to share the latest developments at Germanýs largest dermatologic conference, the Annual Meeting of the Germany Society of Dermatology (DDG). Because this conference has a lasting effect on dermatologic practice and research, understanding what is moving the specialist groups means understanding what is driving dermatology in Germany. METHODS: We used word network analysis to compile and visualize the information embedded in the contribution titles to the DDG Annual Meeting in 2019. We extracted words, contributing cities and inter-connections. The data was standardized, visualized using network graphs and analyzed using common network analysis parameters. RESULTS: A total of 5509 words were extracted from 1150 contribution titles. The most frequently used words were “therapy”, “patients”, and “psoriasis”. The highest number of contributions came from Hamburg, Berlin and Munich. High diversity in research topics was found, as well as a well-connected research network. CONCLUSIONS: Focus of the well-connected German-speaking dermatology community meeting 2019 was patient and therapy centered and lies especially on the diseases psoriasis and melanoma. Network graph analysis can provide helpful insights and help planning future congresses. It can facilitate the choice which contributors to include as imbalances become apparent. Moreover, it can help distributing the topics more evenly across the whole dermatologic spectrum.