Altmetric — a London-based digital science company — tracked more than 17 million online mentions of scientific research articles to create a list of the 100 most-discussed journal articles of the year.
Here are the six articles pertaining to health and healthcare that made the top 10 most-discussed journal articles of 2016, according to Altmetric.
1. United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps, published in JAMA, authored by Barack Obama, JD. At No. 1 on the list, this is the first academic paper to be published by a sitting American president.
2. Medical Error — the Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, published in the British Medical Journal, authored by Martin Makary, MD, and Michael Daniel. The article, which took the No. 2 spot on the list, assesses medical errors contribution to patient mortality and calls for better reporting.
3. Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research: A Historical Analysis of Internal Industry Documents, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, authored by Cristin Kearns and colleagues. Coming in at No. 5 on the list, this article examines research sponsored by the sugar industry to divert attention away from sugar's association with heart disease.
4. Zika Virus and Birth Defects — Reviewing the Evidence for Causality, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, authored by Sonja Rasmussen, MD, and colleagues. At No.6, this review from the CDC confirmed the link between Zika and microcephaly.
5. The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014, published in JAMA, authored by Raj Chetty, PhD, and colleagues. In this article, which claimed the No. 7 spot, researchers link economic inequality to an expanding gap in lifespan.
6. Effect of Wearable Technology Combined With a Lifestyle Intervention on Long-term Weight Loss, published in JAMA, authored by John Jakicic, PhD. This two-year study came in at No. 8 and enrolled 500 overweight participants and determined fitness trackers may not improve on standard behavioral weight-loss approaches.
To see the Altmetric list in its entirety, click here.