ArticleClinical rehabilitation2017
Where have all the pilot studies gone? A follow-up on 30 years of pilot studies in Clinical Rehabilitation.
Article in Clinical rehabilitation, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Pilot randomized controlled trials in the orthopaedic surgery literature: a systematic review.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Pooled it
- Acupuncture for the Treatment of Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Trial
- The reporting of CONSORT items and key feasibility elements in pilot and feasibility studies in hip and knee arthroplasty is suboptimal: a methodological survey.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Review
- Bladder preservation alternatives in non-metastatic muscle-invasive bladder tumor: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Asian journal of urology · 2025Review
- Behavioral interventions-past, present, and future: Proceedings of the 5th International Behavioural Trials Network International Hybrid Meeting.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Article
- Associations between oral health impacts attributed to malocclusion and normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment need in Turkish adolescent patients.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- Article
- A review of sample sizes for UK pilot and feasibility studies on the ISRCTN registry from 2013 to 2020.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2023Review
- Efficacy potential of Goal Management Training to improve cognitive function in older people living with HIV.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2022Article
- The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Health Equity in Oncology: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Blood flow restriction added to usual care exercise in patients with early weight bearing restrictions after cartilage or meniscus repair in the knee joint: a feasibility study.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2022Article
- The reporting of pilot and feasibility studies in the top dental specialty journals is suboptimal.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2022Article
- Applying mixed methods to pilot feasibility studies to inform intervention trials.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2022Article
- Article
- Design, analysis, and reporting of pilot studies in HIV: a systematic review and methodological study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2021Review
- Article
- Modulating Emotional Experience Using Electrical Stimulation of the Medial-Prefrontal Cortex: A Preliminary tDCS-fMRI Study.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2019Article
- A methodological survey on reporting of pilot and feasibility trials for physiotherapy interventions: a study protocol.BMJ open · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPilot studies are meritorious for determining the feasibility of a definitive clinical trial in terms of conduct and potential for efficacy, but their possible applications for planning a future trial are not always fully realized. The purpose of this review was to estimate the extent to which pilot/feasibility studies: (i) addressed needed objectives; (ii) led to definitive trials; and (iii) whether the subsequent undertaking of a definitive trial was influenced by the strength of the evidence of outcome improvement.
methodsTrials published in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation, since its inception, were eligible if the word 'pilot' or 'feasibility' was specified somewhere in the article. A total of 191 studies were reviewed, results were summarized descriptively, and between-group effect sizes were computed.
resultsThe specific purposes of piloting were stated in only 58% ( n = 110) of the studies. The most frequent purpose was to estimate the potential for efficacy (85%), followed by testing the feasibility of the intervention (60%). Only 12% of the studies were followed by a definitive trial; <4% of studies had a main study underway or a published study protocol. There was no relationship between observed effect size and follow-up of pilot studies, although the confidence intervals were very wide owing to small number of trials that followed on. DISCUSSION: Labelling and reporting of pilot studies needs to be improved to be concordant with the recently issued CONSORT guidelines. Feasibility needs to be fully tested and demonstrated prior to committing considerable human and monetary resources.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.