Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29696217›Full record

ArticleContemporary clinical trials communications2017

Quality of abstracts of pilot trials in heart failure: A protocol for a systematic survey.

Godsent Isiguzo, Moleen Zunza, Maxwell Chirehwa, Bongani M Mayosi, Lehana Thabane

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Contemporary clinical trials communications, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 34% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Godsent IsiguzoDepartment of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Moleen ZunzaBiostatistics Unit, Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, Department of Medicine, University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa.
Maxwell ChirehwaBiostatistics Unit, Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, Department of Medicine, University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa.
Bongani M MayosiDepartment of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Lehana ThabaneDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Stellenbosch University · ZAGroote Schuur Hospital · ZAMcMaster University · CAUniversity of Cape Town · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPilot trials are initial small-scale studies done to inform the design of larger trials. Their findings like other studies are usually disseminated as peer-reviewed journal articles. Abstracts are used to introduce the contents to readers, and give a general idea about the full reports and sometimes are the only source of information available to readers. Despite their importance, the contents of abstracts of trial reports are usually not informative enough and lack the essential details. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a protocol for a planned systematic survey with a primary aim of analyzing the reporting quality measured as the completeness of the reporting of pilot trial abstracts in heart failure. The secondary aim will be to explore factors associated with better reporting quality.Abstracts of heart failure pilot trials in humans (journal and conference abstracts) published in the English language from 1 January 1990 to 30 November 2016 will be assessed to determine the reporting quality, based on the CONSORT 2010 statement extension to randomized pilot and feasibility trials. All non-pilot/feasibility trials and non-human pilot trials will be excluded. We will search Medline (PUBMED), Cochrane controlled trials register, Scopus and African wide information databases for pilot trials in heart failure. Title and abstracts of identified studies will be screened for inclusion and data extracted independently by two reviewers in duplicate without using the full text. Reported and unreported items on the abstracts will be presented as frequencies and percentages, a descriptive analysis will be used to interpret the reporting quality and regression analysis used for characteristics associated with greater statistical reporting at 95% confidence interval. REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42016049911.

Indexed as

Abstracts reportsHeart failurePilot trials

Identifiers

PMID29696217
PMCPMC5898522
OpenAlexW2767548617

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.