Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34046250›Full record

ArticleHealth psychology and behavioral medicine2021

Transparent reporting of hypotheses and analyses in behavioral medicine research: An audit of publications in 2018 and 2008.

Megan A McVay, Kellie B Cooper, Montserrat Carrera Seoane, Marissa L Donahue, Laura D Scherer

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Health psychology and behavioral medicine, 2021. 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. 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.

Megan A McVayDepartment of Health Education and Behavior, College of Health and Human Performance, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Kellie B CooperDepartment of Health Education and Behavior, College of Health and Human Performance, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Montserrat Carrera SeoaneDepartment of Health Education and Behavior, College of Health and Human Performance, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Marissa L DonahueDepartment of Health Education and Behavior, College of Health and Human Performance, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA and Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
Laura D SchererSchool of Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA.

Funding

Increasing uptake of behavioral weight loss programs among primary care patientsK23HL127334 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI MCVAY, MEGAN APPERSON · 2015 to 2019
$805k
NHLBI NIH HHS K23 HL127334
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveWe aimed to document the use of transparent reporting of hypotheses and analyses in behavioral medicine journals in 2018 and 2008.

designWe examined a randomly selected portion of articles published in 2018 and 2008 by behavioral medicine journals with the highest impact factor, excluding manuscripts that were reviews or purely descriptive.

main outcome measuresWe coded whether articles explicitly stated if the hypotheses/outcomes/analyses were primary or secondary; if study was registered/pre-registered; if "exploratory" or a related term was used to describe analyses/aims; and if power analyses were reported.

resultsWe coded 162 manuscripts published in 2018 (87% observational and 12% experimental). Sixteen percent were explicit in describing hypotheses/outcomes/analyses as primary or secondary, 51% appeared to report secondary hypotheses/outcomes/analyses but did not use term "secondary," and 33% were unclear. Registration occurred in 14% of studies, but 91% did not report which analyses were registered. "Exploratory" or related term was used in 31% of studies. Power analyses were reported in 8% of studies. Compared to 2008 (n=120), studies published in 2018 were more likely to be registered and less likely to have explicitly stated if outcomes were primary or secondary.

conclusionsBehavioral medicine stakeholders should consider strategies to increase clarity of reporting, and particularly details that will inform readers if analyses were pre-planned or post-hoc.

Indexed as

open sciencepre-registrationresearch methodsscientific publication

Identifiers

PMID34046250
PMCPMC8145985

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.