Are benefits and harms in mammography screening given equal attention in scientific articles? A cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The CONSORT statement specifies the need for a balanced presentation of both benefits and harms of medical interventions in trial reports. However, invitations to screening and newspaper articles often emphasize benefits and downplay or omit harms, and it is known that scientific articles can be influenced by conflicts of interest. We wanted to determine if a similar imbalance occurs in scientific articles on mammography screening and if it is related to author affiliation.

Methods

We searched PubMed in April 2005 for articles on mammography screening that mentioned a benefit or a harm and that were published in 2004 in English. Data extraction was performed by three independent investigators, two unblinded and one blinded for article contents, and author names an

SUBMITTER: Jorgensen KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1896173 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature