Background: Injuries are a major health problem in developing countries. Recently, the
occurrence of injuries and those related to mortality have increased dramatically in Iran. We have
conducted this study to report domestic research publications in the field of trauma from 2000 to
2006 in Iran.
Methods: The contents of 128 biomedical journals were analyzed. Sina Trauma Data Bank
(STDB) was selected as an indicator of trauma related articles that have been published in Iranian
biomedical journals.
Results: The number of trauma related articles in Iran increased during the seven year period
(2000 – 2006), but the percentage of total publications was not significantly different. The mean
number of authors per article was 2.7+1.3 (1 to 12) and all first authors were Iranian. Females
constituted 15.4% (n=156) of first authors. Original articles were the most frequently published
articles (n=871; 86.2%). Treatment of injuries and ensuing complications were the most common
topics (42%) followed by war injuries (14.1%). Traffic accidents, as the leading cause of trauma
death in Iran, were investigated in 27 (2.7%) articles.
Conclusion: According to our results, it seems that more attention from researchers and
health-policy makers towards trauma is necessary in our country. In addition, publishing a journal
with the main theme of injury and trauma could be an effective means for increasing the proportion
of trauma related articles.