analysis of abstracts from the Toronto AIDS Conference – did we deliver for children?
The 2006 International AIDS Conference was held in Toronto, Canada and was the largest gathering of HIV researchers to date. Horton (2006) posed a challenge at the conference by highlighting many of the shortcomings in relation to HIV issues and care associated with children. An analysis of the 2004 Bangkok conference showed some of the difficulties associated with abstract acceptance on child-related issues. This study represents a follow-up with a similar analysis for the Toronto conference.
International AIDS Conferences — a brief explanation
The International AIDS Conferences provide a focal point for research, updates and information exchange in the global fight against HIV. Countries from around the world participate in the conferences, which encourage multidisciplinary decision-making and policy formation on the most prominent HIV topics. The meetings are known to influence strategy and policy and to direct the response to the AIDS epidemic over the short term (Gayle and Wainberg 2007). Wells (2006) noted “the biennial AIDS conference is often exhausting and irritating, but it offers a unique view of how science and society interact”.
The Toronto conference was the 16th such meeting, and attracted more than 24,000 delegates. Box 1 lists previous international AIDS gatherings to date.
Box 1. International AIDS Society Conferences to date
Atlanta (1985)
Paris (1986)
Washington (1987)
Stockholm (1988)
Montreal (1989)
San Francsco (1990)
Florence (1991)
Amsterdam (1992)
Berlin (1993)
Yokahama (1994)
Vancouver (1996)
Geneva (1998)
Durban (2000)
Barcelona (2002)
Bangkok (2004)
Toronto (2006)
Forthcoming Mexico (2008)
There are many views on the conference, but it is clear that it plays a pivotal role in networking, information exchange and policy-making. For example an editorial in Nature (2006) noted “The biennial ritual of activists heckling drug-company officials or tearing down their stands may seem trite, the political speeches tiresome, and the appearances by Hollywood figures and other celebrities frivolous. But that’s the world we live in. Full participation in the AIDS meeting will, as it has in the past, serve to invigorate researchers and ensure the continued relevance of their work.”
Background to the study
The Toronto conference received over 12,000 abstracts, from which an interdisciplinary programme was selected. Abstracts were subjected to a blind review process and awarded one of six levels: oral presentation, key discussion, poster discussion, poster exhibition, CD-only, or reject. The database of abstracts was reproduced on a CD.
The oral presentations formed the major part of the programme. The discussion groups clustered around the posters in the poster area, with gatherings of delegates and a brief (5 minute) discussion. The poster exhibitions allowed for a poster presentation display. Delegates were able to talk informally to authors who were requested to be present at their poster at designated timeslots. CD-only abstracts appeared on the CD, but did not appear in any other way in the programme. The rejected abstracts did not appear on the CD.
The conference comprised five themes, which are listed in Box 2.
An earlier analysis was carried out of the 2004 Bangkok Conference abstracts (Sherr 2006). This analysis found that child-related abstracts formed 3.6% of accepted abstracts. This was lower than the average acceptance rate for all abstracts. Acceptance of child-related abstracts was more likely in the medical tracks, despite the fact that there were more psychosocial than medical abstracts submitted. Overall, this previous analysis showed an under-representation of child-related abstracts, with an emphasis on medical and empirical/quantitative data in those accepted.
This paper aims to explore the frequency and specifics of child-focused HIV research through a detailed analysis of the abstract database of the Toronto International AIDS Conference. With the understanding and knowledge gained from this analysis it will be possible to inform research and programme agendas, and highlight any changes from the Bangkok conference as planning towards Mexico 2008 proceeds.
Methodology
The database from the conference was used for this analysis. The database contained 12,780 abstracts and was accessed by courtesy of the International AIDS Society, for which we gratefully acknowledge our thanks. The analysis does not include invited (non-abstract-driven) sessions, such as plenary talks. Two major searches of the database were made.
Search 1 – keyword search
This search provided a list of abstracts where selected keywords had appeared anywhere in the abstract (title or content). Twenty-five keywords were used: ‘pregnancy’ , ‘treatment’ , ‘gay men’ , ‘migrant’ , ‘drug use’ , ‘adherence’ , ‘HAART’ , ‘interruption’ , ‘vaccine’ , ‘side-effects’ , ‘women’ , ‘adolescent’ , ‘USA’ , ‘Africa’ , ‘children’ , ‘orphan’ , ‘infant’ , ‘paediatric/pediatric’ , ‘law’ , ‘ethics’ , ‘access’ , ‘prevention’ , ‘microbicide’ , ‘RCT’ (‘randomised controlled trial’) and ‘Clinton/Gates’ . These comprise the 18 keywords used in the Bangkok analysis which were repeated for an analysis of change over time, plus additional keywords capturing up-to-date themes.
Box 2. The five themes (tracks) at the Toronto AIDS Conference
Track A – Basic science ß
Track B – Clinical research, treatment and care ß
Track C – Epidemiology and prevention ß
Track D – Social and Economic issues ß
Track E – Policy and Programme implementations ß
An analysis of abstracts from the Toronto AIDS Conference 3
Search 2 – child-related database creation
A second more detailed selection of abstracts was made, and a child-related abstract database created from this selection. This was carried out as follows.
A computer programme was written to capture all abstracts containing one of the following keywords: ‘child’ , ‘children’ , ‘orphan’ , ‘family’ , ‘pediatric’ , ‘paediatric’ , ‘infant’ , ‘youth’ , ‘adolescent’ , ‘pregnancy’ , ‘childbirth’ , ‘baby’ and ‘child development’. All identified abstracts were then compiled into a specific database for detailed analysis. This search generated a database of 2712 abstracts, drawn from the original 12,780.
This database of 2712 was then further refined by detailed reading, and abstracts shortlisted for direct child-relevance, rather than simply mentioning the word child within the body of the abstract. All abstracts were read through by a researcher for relevance. A random selection were double-coded by a second researcher to ensure agreement with the sort process. A total of 748 abstracts met the inclusion criteria (748/2712=27.6%) and were deemed to be directly related to children.
JURNAL
The 2006 International AIDS Conference was held in Toronto, Canada and was the largest gathering of HIV researchers to date. Horton (2006) posed a challenge at the conference by highlighting many of the shortcomings in relation to HIV issues and care associated with children. An analysis of the 2004 Bangkok conference showed some of the difficulties associated with abstract acceptance on child-related issues. This study represents a follow-up with a similar analysis for the Toronto conference.
International AIDS Conferences — a brief explanation
The International AIDS Conferences provide a focal point for research, updates and information exchange in the global fight against HIV. Countries from around the world participate in the conferences, which encourage multidisciplinary decision-making and policy formation on the most prominent HIV topics. The meetings are known to influence strategy and policy and to direct the response to the AIDS epidemic over the short term (Gayle and Wainberg 2007). Wells (2006) noted “the biennial AIDS conference is often exhausting and irritating, but it offers a unique view of how science and society interact”.
The Toronto conference was the 16th such meeting, and attracted more than 24,000 delegates. Box 1 lists previous international AIDS gatherings to date.
Box 1. International AIDS Society Conferences to date
Atlanta (1985)
Paris (1986)
Washington (1987)
Stockholm (1988)
Montreal (1989)
San Francsco (1990)
Florence (1991)
Amsterdam (1992)
Berlin (1993)
Yokahama (1994)
Vancouver (1996)
Geneva (1998)
Durban (2000)
Barcelona (2002)
Bangkok (2004)
Toronto (2006)
Forthcoming Mexico (2008)
There are many views on the conference, but it is clear that it plays a pivotal role in networking, information exchange and policy-making. For example an editorial in Nature (2006) noted “The biennial ritual of activists heckling drug-company officials or tearing down their stands may seem trite, the political speeches tiresome, and the appearances by Hollywood figures and other celebrities frivolous. But that’s the world we live in. Full participation in the AIDS meeting will, as it has in the past, serve to invigorate researchers and ensure the continued relevance of their work.”
Background to the study
The Toronto conference received over 12,000 abstracts, from which an interdisciplinary programme was selected. Abstracts were subjected to a blind review process and awarded one of six levels: oral presentation, key discussion, poster discussion, poster exhibition, CD-only, or reject. The database of abstracts was reproduced on a CD.
The oral presentations formed the major part of the programme. The discussion groups clustered around the posters in the poster area, with gatherings of delegates and a brief (5 minute) discussion. The poster exhibitions allowed for a poster presentation display. Delegates were able to talk informally to authors who were requested to be present at their poster at designated timeslots. CD-only abstracts appeared on the CD, but did not appear in any other way in the programme. The rejected abstracts did not appear on the CD.
The conference comprised five themes, which are listed in Box 2.
An earlier analysis was carried out of the 2004 Bangkok Conference abstracts (Sherr 2006). This analysis found that child-related abstracts formed 3.6% of accepted abstracts. This was lower than the average acceptance rate for all abstracts. Acceptance of child-related abstracts was more likely in the medical tracks, despite the fact that there were more psychosocial than medical abstracts submitted. Overall, this previous analysis showed an under-representation of child-related abstracts, with an emphasis on medical and empirical/quantitative data in those accepted.
This paper aims to explore the frequency and specifics of child-focused HIV research through a detailed analysis of the abstract database of the Toronto International AIDS Conference. With the understanding and knowledge gained from this analysis it will be possible to inform research and programme agendas, and highlight any changes from the Bangkok conference as planning towards Mexico 2008 proceeds.
Methodology
The database from the conference was used for this analysis. The database contained 12,780 abstracts and was accessed by courtesy of the International AIDS Society, for which we gratefully acknowledge our thanks. The analysis does not include invited (non-abstract-driven) sessions, such as plenary talks. Two major searches of the database were made.
Search 1 – keyword search
This search provided a list of abstracts where selected keywords had appeared anywhere in the abstract (title or content). Twenty-five keywords were used: ‘pregnancy’ , ‘treatment’ , ‘gay men’ , ‘migrant’ , ‘drug use’ , ‘adherence’ , ‘HAART’ , ‘interruption’ , ‘vaccine’ , ‘side-effects’ , ‘women’ , ‘adolescent’ , ‘USA’ , ‘Africa’ , ‘children’ , ‘orphan’ , ‘infant’ , ‘paediatric/pediatric’ , ‘law’ , ‘ethics’ , ‘access’ , ‘prevention’ , ‘microbicide’ , ‘RCT’ (‘randomised controlled trial’) and ‘Clinton/Gates’ . These comprise the 18 keywords used in the Bangkok analysis which were repeated for an analysis of change over time, plus additional keywords capturing up-to-date themes.
Box 2. The five themes (tracks) at the Toronto AIDS Conference
Track A – Basic science ß
Track B – Clinical research, treatment and care ß
Track C – Epidemiology and prevention ß
Track D – Social and Economic issues ß
Track E – Policy and Programme implementations ß
An analysis of abstracts from the Toronto AIDS Conference 3
Search 2 – child-related database creation
A second more detailed selection of abstracts was made, and a child-related abstract database created from this selection. This was carried out as follows.
A computer programme was written to capture all abstracts containing one of the following keywords: ‘child’ , ‘children’ , ‘orphan’ , ‘family’ , ‘pediatric’ , ‘paediatric’ , ‘infant’ , ‘youth’ , ‘adolescent’ , ‘pregnancy’ , ‘childbirth’ , ‘baby’ and ‘child development’. All identified abstracts were then compiled into a specific database for detailed analysis. This search generated a database of 2712 abstracts, drawn from the original 12,780.
This database of 2712 was then further refined by detailed reading, and abstracts shortlisted for direct child-relevance, rather than simply mentioning the word child within the body of the abstract. All abstracts were read through by a researcher for relevance. A random selection were double-coded by a second researcher to ensure agreement with the sort process. A total of 748 abstracts met the inclusion criteria (748/2712=27.6%) and were deemed to be directly related to children.
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