Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30576389›Full record

ArticlePloS one2018

'A world of competing sorrows': A mixed methods analysis of media reports of children with cancer abandoning conventional treatment.

Caroline Diorio, Michael Afanasiev, Kristen Salena, Stacey Marjerrison

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

4 authors.

Caroline DiorioMcMaster Children's Hospital, Hamilton, Canada.
Michael AfanasievInstitute of Geophysics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Kristen SalenaFaculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Stacey MarjerrisonMcMaster Children's Hospital, Hamilton, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-3763-5494

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe aimed to provide health practitioners greater insight into the public perception of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) use. Our objectives were to identify news media reports of children abandoning conventional treatment for traditional and complementary medicine, analyze the thematic content of these news articles and estimate the tonality portrayed.

methodsLexisNexis and Factiva were searched for terms related to cancer, children and T&CM. Inclusion criteria were children less than 18 years, in curative phase of treatment who attempted to abandon conventional therapy for any traditional and complementary medicine use. A secondary search was performed in LexisNexis, Factiva and Google News Archive with the names of children in identified cases. Qualitative analysis of news media reports was completed using a grounded theory approach. Quantitative analysis of article sentiment was performed using a linear support vector machine.

resultsSeventeen cases occurring between 2002 and 2016 were included. Five main themes were identified: treatment as torture, power imbalances, rights of parents, evidence versus beliefs and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Sentiment analysis revealed an overall negative tone, as demonstrated by 73% of the articles.

interpretationA better understanding of factors that lead to abandonment of conventional therapy for traditional and complementary medicine as portrayed in the news media may help healthcare providers prevent the occurrence of these cases.

Indexed as

Complementary TherapiesHealth PersonnelHumansNeoplasmsSupport Vector Machine

Identifiers

PMID30576389
PMCPMC6303077

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.