J Pediatr Urol. 2026 Jul 22. pii: S1477-5131(26)00448-1. [Epub ahead of print]
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INTRODUCTION: The American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting is consistently competitive, accepting approximately one-third of the scientific abstracts submitted. Following abstract presentation, manuscript publication offers the opportunity to more widely disseminate research findings and methodology. Several prior studies have evaluated the publication rate of urology abstracts presented at regional and/or national conferences. In this study, we aim to both identify factors of Pediatric Urology abstracts presented at the annual meeting that were associated with an increased likelihood of manuscript publication and evaluate trends over time.
METHODS: All Pediatric Urology abstracts presented at AUA annual meetings from 2013 to 2022 were reviewed. Data was collected on primary author degree type, presentation format (e.g. poster v. podium), and author geographic region. Manuscripts were searched for on PubMed and Google Scholar using the abstract titles and authors' names. Journal name, year of publication, and journal impact factor were recorded for published manuscripts. Impact factors were based on 2024 published values. SPSS statistical software was then used to analyze descriptive statistics and perform chi square analysis for categorical variables. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests with pairwise Bonferroni correction, Cochran-Armitage trend testing, multivariable logistic regression, and Kaplan-Meier time-to-event analyses were performed.
RESULTS: 604 Pediatric Urology abstracts were presented from 2013 to 2022. Of these, 456 (75.5%) were moderated posters, 112 (18.5%) were videos, and 36 (6.0%) were podium presentations. 240 (39.7%) of these resulted in published manuscripts. Median time to publication was 1 years (IQR 1-2). 88.8% of published manuscripts (n = 213) had a physician listed as first author. Though there was an upward trend in the number of abstracts presented at annual meetings from 2013 (n = 72) to 2022 (n = 94), the rate of manuscript publication did not differ significantly across years (p = 0.066). An ordinal trend test, however, indicated a modest decline in publication rate across the study period (Cochran-Armitage p = 0.030). Manuscripts were published in 55 different journals with a median impact factor of 2.3 (IQR 1.9-6.8). 217 manuscripts (90.4%) were published within two years of abstract presentation. In contrast to several prior studies which found that podium presentations were more likely to subsequently get published as manuscripts, moderated poster presentations demonstrated the highest publication rate (44.7%), followed by podium presentations (30.6%), and video presentations (22.3%). Pairwise comparison with Bonferroni correction showed this format effect was driven by the difference between moderated poster and video presentations (adjusted p < 0.001); podium presentation were not statistically separable from either group.AUA geographic region was not associated with likelihood of manuscript publication (p = 0.648).
CONCLUSIONS: The overall manuscript publication rate for Pediatric Urology abstracts at the AUA annual meeting over ten years was 39.7% (publication searches conducted through March 2026). Presentation format was significantly associated with publication likelihood; pairwise comparison showed this effect was driven by the difference between poster and video presentations, while podium presentations were not statistically separable form either group given the limited window in which podium was offered (2019 and 2022). With moderated poster presentations demonstrating the highest publication rate. Geographic region did not impact likelihood of publication. The annual conversion rate showed a modest decline across the study period (trend p = 0.030), which may partly reflect shorter publication follow-up for recent meeting years.
Keywords: AUA; Abstract outcomes; Pediatric urology; Publications