Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34184029›Full record

SynthesisEuropean journal of orthodontics2021

Assessment of early exaggerated treatment effects in orthodontic interventions using cumulative meta-analysis.

Jadbinder Seehra, Daniel Stonehouse-Smith, Nikolaos Pandis

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European journal of orthodontics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 21% 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

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

  1. Pooled it
  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

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Jadbinder SeehraDepartment of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3243-1580
Daniel Stonehouse-SmithDepartment of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1096-5012
Nikolaos PandisDepartment of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Dental School/Medical Faculty, University of Bern, Switzerland.
King's College London · GBUniversity of Bern · CH

Funding

Department of Health
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe reported initial strong treatment effects reported in early trials that are refuted in subsequent future studies assessing the same interventions have been attributed to novelty bias. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is any evidence of novelty bias in the reported treatment effects of orthodontics interventions. MATERIALS AND

methodsRelevant orthodontic systematic review (SRs) topics containing at least one meta-analysis on either binary or continuous outcomes with a minimum of three trials considered important areas in the field of orthodontic practice were identified. SR, meta-analysis, and primary study-level characteristics were extracted. Descriptive statistics were calculated at the SRs, meta-analysis, and at the individual study level. All SR and trial-level data were imported into the statistical software and all meta-analyses were replicated using the cumulative random-effects meta-analysis approach. Changes in the size and direction of the estimates between the first trial and the cumulative effect over time were recorded.

resultsForty-seven meta-analyses were included. The total number of primary studies included within these meta-analyses was 408 (N = 408). Overall, the final effect size estimate decreased in 29 (61.7%, N = 29/47) cumulative meta-analyses whilst it increased in the remaining 18 (38.3%, N = 18/47). No association between the level of risk of bias and the cumulative absolute effect size was evident (OR 1.00; 95% CI: 0.98, 1.03; P = 0.717) after adjusting for year of the primary study (P = 0.22).

conclusionsClinicians should be wary of the results of trials reporting the effectiveness of new interventions as there is a possibility that the reported effect size will be often exaggerated.

Indexed as

BiasHumans

Identifiers

PMID34184029
PMCPMC8633600
OpenAlexW3175533853

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.