How successful are Turkish orthopedists in complying with time limit in scientific presentations?

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the durations of scientific presentations and factors affecting the rates of exceeding the time limit in presentations at 26th Turkish National Congress of Orthopedics and Traumatology, which is one of Turkey's largest nationally organized orthopedics and traumatology meetings in terms of the numbers of speakers and participators.

Materials and methods: Speech durations of Turkish orthopedists and the rates of these durations against the durations specified in the schedule were calculated. Any relationships between factors related to speakers who made presentations (age and place of work) and factors such as the day, auditorium, and hour of presentation with speech durations were investigated. Durations of sessions of sub-associations and branches were classified and statistically compared.

Results: Out of 480 speakers with a mean age of 47 years (range 28 to 71 years), only 171 (35.6%) completed their presentations within the time specified in the schedule. Speech durations statistically significantly increased as the age of the speakers increased. Rates of non-compliance with time limit were higher in presentations performed on the first day. There was no significant difference between meeting auditoriums and meeting hours with regards to compliance with time limit percentages. An analysis based on places of work of speakers revealed no significant difference in terms of time usage percentages. A significant difference was present between the given and used times in the sessions of Society of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors, Sports Traumatology Branch, and Turkish Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Rates of compliance with time limit were higher in the sessions of Foot and Ankle Surgery Branch, Turkish Society of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, and Turkish Society of Orthopaedic Research.

Conclusion: Turkish orthopedists are unsuccessful in complying with time limit in scientific presentations. Awareness should be raised on this subject and time discipline should be established with various measures and training.