Level and Prevalence of Spin in Published Cardiovascular Randomized Clinical Trial Reports With Statistically Nonsignificant Primary Outcomes: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Clinical researchers are obligated to present results objectively and accurately to ensure readers are not misled. In studies in which primary end points are not statistically significant, placing a spin, defined as the manipulation of language to potentially mislead readers from the likely truth of the results, can distract the reader and lead to misinterpretation and misapplication of the findings.

Objective

To determine the level and prevalence of spin in published reports of cardiovascular randomized clinical trial (RCT) reports.

Data source

MEDLINE was searched from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2017, using the Cochrane highly sensitive search strategy.

Study selection

Inclusion criteria were parallel-group RCTs published from January 1, 2015

SUBMITTER: Khan MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6503494 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature