Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32440583›Full record

ArticleChronic stress (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)

Risk of Bias in Randomized Clinical Trials on Psychological Therapies for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Adults.

Juliana Martins Scalabrin, Marcelo F Mello, Walter Swardfager, Hugo Cogo-Moreira

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Chronic stress (Thousand Oaks, Calif.). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 28% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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 at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Juliana Martins ScalabrinDepartment of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Marcelo F MelloDepartment of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Walter SwardfagerDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-0030-8908
Hugo Cogo-MoreiraDepartment of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Universidade Federal de São Paulo · BRSunnybrook Health Science Centre · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo evaluate the factorial validity and internal consistency of a measurement model underlying risk of bias as endorsed by Cochrane for use in systematic reviews; more specifically, how the risk of bias tool behaves in the context of studies on psychological therapies used for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in adults.

methodsWe applied confirmatory factor analysis to a systematic review containing 70 clinical trials entitled "Psychological Therapies for Chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Adults" under a Bayesian estimator. Seven observed categorical risk of bias items (answered categorically as low, unclear, or high risk of bias) were collected from the systematic review.

resultsA unidimensional model for the Cochrane risk of bias tool items returned poor fit indices and low factor loadings, indicating questionable validity and internal consistency.

conclusionAlthough the present evidence is restricted to psychological interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder, it demonstrates that the way risk of bias has been measured in this context may not be adequate. More broadly, the results suggest the importance of testing the risk of bias tool, and the possibility of rethinking the methods used to assess risk of bias in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Indexed as

post-traumatic stress disorderpsychometricspsychotherapyscale evaluation

Identifiers

PMID32440583
PMCPMC7219943
OpenAlexW2806271177

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.