Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of evidence of rhinology and rhinologic skull base surgery (RSBS) research and its evolution over the past decade.
Study design: Review article.
Setting: We reviewed articles from 2007 to 2019 in 4 leading peer-reviewed otolaryngology journals and 3 rhinology-specific journals.
Methods: The articles were reviewed and levels of evidence were assigned using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine 2011 guidelines. High quality was defined as level of evidence 1 or 2.
Results: In total, 1835 articles were reviewed in this study spanning a 13-year period. Overall, the absolute number of RSBS publications increased significantly 22.6% per year, from 108 articles in 2007 to 481 in 2019 (P < .001; 95% CI, 7.9-37.2). In 2007, only 13 articles, or 15%, were high quality, and this grew to 146 articles, or 39%, in 2019. A 14.0% per year exponential increase in the number of high-quality publications was found to be statistically significant (P < .001; 95% CI, 7.2, 20.7). Overall, high-quality publications represented just 25.8% of RSBS articles overall. There was no significant difference in quality between rhinology-specific journals and general otolaryngology journals (χ2 = 3.1, P = .077).
Conclusion: The number of overall publications and of high-quality RSBS publications has significantly increased over the past decade. However, the proportion of high-quality studies continues to represent a minority of total RSBS research.
Keywords: endoscopic; evidence-based medicine; rhinology; skull base.