Global Emergency Medicine: A Scoping Review of the Literature From 2024

TL;DR

This paper summarizes global emergency medicine research from 2024, highlighting key themes and the growth of a collaborative review initiative over 20 years.

Contribution

The paper presents a comprehensive annual review of global emergency medicine literature and tracks the initiative's evolution and impact over two decades.

Findings

33 top 2024 GEM studies were identified despite a 30% drop in screened articles.

Mental health and clinical protocols emerged as new focus areas in global emergency care research.

GEMLR has grown into a multinational effort with over 230 contributors and 500+ high-impact publications highlighted since 2005.

Abstract

The Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR) identifies impactful research in global emergency care. This 20th annual edition reviews GEM literature published in 2024 and highlights the growth of GEMLR over the years.

We conducted a scoping review of 2024 GEM articles through structured PubMed and gray literature searches. Reviewers and editors from 10 countries screened abstracts using predefined criteria for three domains: disaster and humanitarian response (DHR), emergency care in limited-resource settings (ECLRS), and emergency medicine development (EMD). Duplicates and articles lacking authorship equity or ethical oversight were excluded. Remaining publications were scored using tailored rubrics for original research (OR), review articles (RE), and gray literature (GRAY). The top 5% in each category were selected for critical appraisal. A retrospective summary of 20 years of GEMLR reviews was also completed.

The search identified 46,714 PubMed and 12,575 gray literature articles. A total of 473 met inclusion criteria and were scored; 33 were selected as the top 5%, a decrease from 55 in 2023. Although the search string was unchanged, 2024 yielded ~10,000 fewer articles. Common themes included trauma, pediatrics, and clinical/triage protocols, with a new focus on mental health among clinicians and disaster victims. Over 20 years, 230 individuals have contributed 810 service-years to GEMLR. Nearly 75% of members were from the USA, while 32 (13.9%) were from LMICs and 27 (11.7%) from non-USA high-income countries. In total, 398,904 articles have been screened, 8476 scored, and 517 top articles narratively reviewed since 2005.

Over two decades, GEMLR has evolved into a large-scale, multinational, methodologically rigorous initiative, highlighting more than 500 high-impact GEM publications. In 2024, despite fewer articles screened, 33 top studies were identified across key domains. GEMLR emphasizes equitable LMIC representation, rigorous quality standards, and authorship equity, aiming to help shape the future of emergency care research.

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