Abstract
Objective: It has been claimed that institutions engaging in academic activities provide better care. The aim of this study was to establish whether there is an association between academic output and mortality rates for NHS Trusts (NT).
Method: Standardized mortality rates for 2010 were obtained from www.drfosterhealth.co.uk. MEDLINE was queried to establish the number of citations credited to NT from 2006 to 2010. Admissions for NT for 2009-2010 were obtained from www.hesonline.nhs.uk. The number of citations per admission was calculated and used as an indicator of academic output.
Results: Spearman rank analysis was performed to identify any correlation between citations per admission and the inverse of 4 types of mortality rates: high risk conditions r = 0.20 (P = .01); low risk conditions r = -0.06 (P = .46); deaths after surgery r = 0.193 (P = .019); overall mortality 0.291 (P < .01).
Conclusion: The results of this preliminary study demonstrate a statistically significant correlation between academic output and mortality rates. However, it should be noted that the correlation coefficients are small, but the findings of this study encourage further debate.
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