Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31799004›Full record

ArticleBMJ global health2019

Inequities in the global representation of sites participating in large, multicentre dialysis trials: a systematic review.

Brendan Smyth, Konlawij Trongtrakul, Anna Haber, B Talbot, Carmel Hawley, Vlado Perkovic, Mark Woodward, Meg Jardine

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ global health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 36% 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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Article
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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

8 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.

Brendan SmythRenal and Metabolic Division, The George Institute for Global Health and University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-1838-3348
Konlawij TrongtrakulFaculty of Medicine, Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Anna HaberChelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK.
B TalbotRenal and Metabolic Division, The George Institute for Global Health and University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Carmel HawleyDepartment of Nephrology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Vlado PerkovicRenal and Metabolic Division, The George Institute for Global Health and University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Mark WoodwardThe George Institute for Global Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Meg JardineRenal and Metabolic Division, The George Institute for Global Health and University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
UNSW Sydney · AUChelsea and Westminster Hospital · GBConcord Repatriation General Hospital · AUJohns Hopkins University · USNavamindradhiraj University · THThe University of Queensland · AUThe University of Sydney · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe number of dialysis recipients is growing worldwide, making it important that the full range of patient populations are represented in randomised trials. As trial recruitment has not previously been examined at a global level, we compared the location of trial sites recruiting to large multicentre randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in dialysis to the global distribution of dialysis recipients.

methodsA systematic review (2007-2016) was conducted to identify RCTs enrolling ≥100 dialysis patients from ≥2 sites. The number and location of sites were extracted from manuscripts and trial registration. The proportion of sites from each International Society of Nephrology global region was divided by the proportion of the global dialysis population in that region to determine a 'representation index' (RI), where 1.0 indicated that the number of sites was proportionate to the number of dialysis recipients in that region.

resultsWe identified 180 RCTs, recruiting from 6172 sites in 54 countries. Eastern and Central Europe had the highest RI at 2.45. Other well-represented regions were Western Europe (2.20), North America (2.06), and Russia and newly independent states (1.36). Africa had the lowest RI at 0.05, followed by South Asia (0.08), Latin America (0.15), Middle East (0.27), North-East Asia (0.41), and South-East Asia and Oceania (0.62).

conclusionsRegions of the world with growing numbers of dialysis patients are poorly represented in large, multicentre RCTs. Efforts to boost trial participation in these regions are required to ensure that generalisable and relevant information is available to local healthcare providers.

Indexed as

health policies and all other topicsrandomised control trialsystematic review

Identifiers

PMID31799004
PMCPMC6861095
OpenAlexW2982816903

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.