The Fragility of Landmark Randomized Controlled Trials in the Plastic Surgery Literature.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are integral to the progress of evidenced-based medicine and help guide changes in the standards of care. Although results are traditionally evaluated according to their corresponding P value, the universal utility of this statistical metric has been called into question. The fragility index (FI) has been developed as an adjunct method to provide additional statistical perspective. In this study, we aimed to determine the fragility of 25 highly cited RCTs in the plastic surgery literature.

Methods

A PubMed search was used to identify the 25 highest cited RCTs with statistically significant dichotomous outcomes across 24 plastic surgery journals. Article characteristics were extracted, and the FI of each article was calcul

SUBMITTER: Ormseth BH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10793969 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature