Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33593782›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2021

Rationalisations for women-only randomised controlled trials in conditions that affect both sexes: a scoping review protocol.

Ainsley Matthewson, Olena Bereznyakova, Brian Dewar, Alexandra Davis, Mark Fedyk, Vignan Yogendrakumar, Dean A Fergusson, Sophia Gocan, Dar Dowlatshahi, Robert Fahed and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

11 authors.

Ainsley MatthewsonFaculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada amatt074@uottawa.ca.ORCID 0000-0002-6577-3042
Olena BereznyakovaDepartment of Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Brian DewarOttawa Hospital & Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Alexandra DavisOttawa Hospital & Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Mark FedykBetty Irene Moore School of Nursing, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Vignan YogendrakumarFaculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-8814-6853
Dean A FergussonOttawa Hospital & Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-3389-2485
Sophia GocanOttawa Hospital & Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Dar DowlatshahiFaculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Robert FahedFaculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Michel ShamyFaculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionWomen have historically been under-represented in randomised controlled trials (RCTs), including many landmark RCTs that established standards of care. In light of this fact, some modern researchers are calling for replication of earlier landmark trials with women only. This approach is ethically concerning, in that it would require some enrolled women to be deprived of treatments that are currently considered standard of care.

objectiveIn an attempt to better understand the justification of a women-only approach to designing clinical trials, this study looks to systematically categorise the number of women-only RCTs for conditions that affect both men and women and the reasons given within the medical and philosophical literatures to perform them. METHODOLOGY: This scoping review of the literature will search, screen and select articles based on predetermined inclusion/exclusion criteria, after which a grounded theory approach will be used to synthesise the data. It is expected that there will be a variety of reasons given for why a women-only trial may be justified. Electronic databases that will be searched include MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Clinical Trials Register, Web of Science Proceedings, ClinicalTrials.gov, Philosopher's Index, Phil Papers, JSTOR, Periodicals Archive Online, Project MUSE and the National Reference Centre for Bioethics. SIGNIFICANCE: The scope of this study is to determine published rationales used to justify women-only randomised trials, both in the case of new trials and in the repetition of landmark trials. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Research ethics board approval is not required for this study as there is no participant involvement. Results will be published as a stand-alone manuscript and will inform a larger project related to the ethics of a women-only RCT of carotid intervention for women with symptomatic high-grade carotid stenosis.

Indexed as

Carotid StenosisFemaleHumansMaleRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicScoping Reviews as Topicethics (see medical ethics)medical ethicsneurology

Identifiers

PMID33593782
PMCPMC7888323

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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.