Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32070356›Full record

ArticleBiomedical engineering online2020

Data anomalies and apparent reporting errors in 'Randomized controlled trial testing weight loss and abdominal obesity outcomes of moxibustion'.

Luis M Mestre, Stephanie L Dickinson, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Andrew W Brown, David B Allison

Abstract readLetter
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Biomedical engineering online, 2020. 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
–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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  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.

Luis M MestreDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA. lmestre@iu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7636-8133
Stephanie L DickinsonDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
Lilian Golzarri-ArroyoDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
Andrew W BrownDepartment of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
David B AllisonDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA. allison@iu.edu.

Funding

Strengthening Causal Inference in Behavioral Obesity ResearchR25HL124208 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI ALLISON, DAVID B, BROWN, ANDREW W · 2014 to 2023
$1.8M
NHLBI NIH HHS R25 HL124208
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the best method to determine causal effects for treatments if they are well done and well reported. Good evidence about proposed treatments for obesity is needed, and Hsieh et al. (Biomed Eng Online 17:149, 2018) are to be commended for putting moxibustion to the test. However, careful evaluation of the paper reveals inconsistencies and apparent reporting errors, which raise doubts about conclusions from the study.

Indexed as

Body WeightData AnalysisMoxibustionRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicResearch DesignHumansObesity, AbdominalTreatment OutcomeClinical trialsMoxibustion therapyRandomizationWaist circumferenceWaist-to-hip ratioWeight reduction

Identifiers

PMID32070356
PMCPMC7029490

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.