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Oulun yliopiston väitöskirjat

SYSTEMATIC SEARCH AND EVALUATION OF PUBLISHED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, ACTA UNIVERSITATIS OULUENSIS D Medica 1067

ISBN-13:	978-951-42-6282-1
Kieli:	englanti
Kustantaja:	Oulun yliopisto
Oppiaine:	Lääketiede, farmasia
Painosvuosi:	2010
Sidosasu:	pehmeäkantinen
Sijainti:	Print Tietotalo
Sivumäärä:	174
Tekijät:	MÄKINEN JOHANNA

20.00 €

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to present methods of search, evaluation and analysis of a specificresearch domain (schizophrenia) from four perspectives: bibliometric analysis of 1) Finnishdoctoral theses and 2) Finnish journal articles on schizophrenia, and meta-analysis to determinethe prevalence of 3) alcohol use disorders and 4) cannabis use disorders in schizophrenia. Over the years, the number of Finnish articles on schizophrenia has increased, as well as theamount of international collaboration. Bibliometric methods were also found to be feasible in theevaluation of psychiatric research. However, the methods should be used with care. Articleswritten in collaboration with international organisations seem to receive more citations and arepublished in journals with higher impact factors, which highlights the importance of developingscientific networks. A considerable proportion (20%) of Finnish scientific schizophrenia articleswere published in theses consisting of original papers. The current funding system supports thewriting of doctoral thesis consisting of original articles and favours epidemiological and biologicalresearch over research into medical treatments. This may affect the research culture in Finland andeven slow down the development and improvement of the national treatment system. The reported prevalence of alcohol and cannabis use disorders has differed considerablybetween studies. No meta-analysis on alcohol or cannabis use disorders in schizophrenia haspreviously been conducted. In studies (n = 71) on schizophrenia patients, the median prevalencewas 15% for current and 26% for lifetime alcohol use disorder, and 16% for current and 27% forlifetime cannabis use disorder. Alcohol use disorders are common in schizophrenia patients,although a declining trend was observed when comparing previous reviews. Cannabis usedisorders were found to be more common in younger and first-episode patient samples, as well asin samples with a high proportion of males.

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