What factors affect the quality of medical students’ doctoral theses? A comparative study in affiliated hospitals of a Chinese university

Figures & data

Table 1 Comparison of thesis quality indicators between honored and nonhonored group (univariate analysis)

Domain	Indicators	Honored	Nonhonored	OR (95%CI)	P-value
Training characteristics	Number of instructors N (%)
	=1	23 (56.10%)	76 (63.87%)
	>1	18 (43.90%)	43 (36.13%)	1.55 (0.70–3.44)	0.276
	Degree type
	MD	4 (9.76%)	92 (77.31%)
	PhD	37 (90.24%)	27 (22.69%)	62.89 (8.53–463.5)	<0.001
	Research classification (n(%))
	Clinical epidemiology	4 (9.76%)	67 (56.30%)	Ref	Ref
	Clinical and basic research	14 (34.15%)	15 (12.61%)	13.18 (3.67–47.3)	<0.001
	Basic research	23 (56.10%)	37 (31.09%)	7.88 (2.60–23.88)	<0.001
Workload	Abstract word count (per 100)
	Median (quartile)	14.61 (9.86, 20.18)	9.70 (7.21, 14.37)	1.10 (1.04–1.16)	0.001
	Review word count (per 1000)
	Median (quartile)	10.60 (7.04, 13.91)	8.70 (6.67, 12.98)	1.03 (0.99–1.08)	0.182
	Main text word count (per 1000)
	Median (quartile)	23.74 (18.51, 31.54)	16.08 (11.70, 22.37)	1.09 (1.04–1.13)	<0.001
	Total number of references
	Median (quartile)	144 (108, 196)	104 (76, 139)	1.01 (1.01–1.02)	<0.001
	Last three years references N (%)
	<21%	24 (58.54%)	55 (46.22%)
	≥21%	17 (41.46%)	64 (53.78%)	0.60 (0.29–1.25)	0.175
Student accomplishment	First author IF
	Median (quartile)	8.31 (5.41, 10.97)	0 (0, 1.54)	2.36 (1.45–3.84)	0.001
	Scholarship N (%)
	No	9 (21.95%)	55 (46.22%)
	Yes	32 (78.05%)	64 (53.78%)	3.18 (1.32–7.67)	0.010
Thesis standardization	Standard format N (%)
	No	3 (7.32%)	28 (23.53%)
	Yes	38 (92.68%)	91 (76.47%)	3.84 (1.09–13.55)	0.036
	Provide clear diagnostic criteria N (%)
	No	10 (24.39%)	50 (42.02%)
	Yes	31 (75.61%)	69 (57.98%)	2.53 (1.07, 6.00)	0.035
	Introduce sample source
	No	1 (2.44%)	6 (5.04%)
	Yes	40 (97.56%)	113 (94.96%)	2.47 (0.29, 21.20)	0.408
	Provide ethic approval
	No	19 (46.34%)	68 (57.14%)
	Yes	22 (53.66%)	51 (42.86%)	1.60 (0.73, 3.48)	0.237
Statistic method	Provide sample size estimation
	No	40 (97.56%)	115 (96.64%)
	Yes	1 (2.44%)	4 (3.36%)	0.72 (0.07, 7.35)	0.782
	Appropriate statistic method
	No	29 (70.73%)	94 (78.99%)
	Yes	12 (29.27%)	25 (21.01%)	1.78 (0.70–4.56)	0.230
	Correct statistic report
	No	13 (31.71%)	95 (79.83%)
	Yes	28 (68.29%)	24 (20.17%)	9.14 (3.69–22.61)	<0.001

Table 2 Multivariate conditional logistic analysis of indicators affecting quality of medical doctoral theses

Indicators	Coefficient	Standard error	P-value	OR (95%CI)
Degree type	4.68	2.29	0.041	107.56 (1.20–9632.70)
Research classification
Clinical epidemiology	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
Clinical and basic research	−0.18	1.56	0.906	0.83 (0.04–17.68)
Basic research	−0.27	2.02	0.892	0.76 (0.01–39.70)
First author impact factor	0.22	0.11	0.040	1.24 (1.01–1.53)
Scholarship	−0.35	1.34	0.795	0.71 (0.05–9.83)
Standard format	2.77	1.86	0.136	15.94 (0.42–605.50)
Provide clear diagnostic criteria	0.51	1.26	0.685	1.67 (0.14–19.88)
Correct statistic report	3.77	1.60	0.019	43.18 (1.88–991.61)