Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34766419›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of methods in psychiatric research2022

Selective outcome reporting across psychopharmacotherapy randomized controlled trials.

Michelle Lancee, Marleen Schuring, Joeri K Tijdink, An-Wen Chan, Christiaan H Vinkers, Jurjen J Luykx

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Time to publication for results of clinical trials.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Selective outcome reporting across psychopharmacotherapy randomized controlled trials.International journal of methods in psychiatric research · 2022
    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

6 authors.

Michelle LanceeDepartment of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Marleen SchuringDepartment of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Joeri K TijdinkDepartment of Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
An-Wen ChanDepartment of Medicine, Women's College Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Christiaan H VinkersDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health research institute and Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Jurjen J LuykxDepartment of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-6439-2774

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveSelective reporting impairs the valid interpretation of trials and leads to bias with regards to the clinical evidence. We aimed to examine factors associated with selective reporting in psychopharmacotherapy trials and thus enable solutions to prevent such selective reporting in the future.

methodsWe retrieved all registry records of trials investigating medication for depressive, bipolar and psychotic disorders. Multivariate logistic regression was performed with selective reporting as outcome, and funding source, psychiatric disorder, year of study start date, participating centers, and anticipated sample size as explanatory variables, after testing for multicollinearity. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were calculated. Two-sided Fisher exact test was used to compare the proportions of newly added positive primary outcomes with the proportions of positive results in the overall group of primary outcomes.

resultsOf 151 included trials (N = 94,303 participants), 21 (14%) showed irregularities between registered and published primary outcomes. Higher odds of such irregularities were associated with non-industry-funded RCTs (AOR 5.3; p = 0.014) and trials investigating major depressive disorder (AOR 12.7; p = 0.024) or schizophrenia (AOR 14.5; p = 0.016; Table 1).

conclusionWe demonstrate discrepancies between trial registrations and publications across RCTs investigating debilitating psychiatric disorders, especially in non-industry funded RCTs.

Indexed as

Major Depressive DisorderHumansPublication BiasRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRegistriesSample Sizeoutcome reporting biaspsychiatryresearch ethicsselective outcome reporting

Identifiers

PMID34766419
PMCPMC8886282

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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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.