Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35597556›Full record

SynthesisInternational journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases2022

Randomized controlled trials in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and critical appraisal.

Kavina Kudhail, Jacqueline Thompson, Vivek Mathews, Breanna Morrison, Karla Hemming

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 22% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Safety and immunogenicity of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in people with gastrointestinal cancer.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2022
    Observational
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 at 1 institution in 1 country.

Kavina KudhailCollege of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Jacqueline ThompsonInstitute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Vivek MathewsCollege of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Breanna MorrisonInstitute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Karla HemmingInstitute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Electronic address: k.hemming@bham.ac.uk.
University of Birmingham · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThis study aimed to describe the prevalence of risks of bias in randomized trials of therapeutic interventions for COVID-19.

methodsSystematic review and risk of bias assessment performed by two independent reviewers of a random sample of 40 randomized trials of therapeutic interventions for moderate-severe COVID-19. We used the RoB 2.0 tool to assess the risk of bias, which evaluates bias under five domains as well as an overall assessment of each trial as high or low risk of bias.

resultsOf the 40 included trials, 19 (47%) were at high risk of bias, and this was particularly frequent in trials from low-middle income countries (11/14, 79%). Potential deviations to intended interventions (i.e., control participants accessing experimental treatments) were considered a potential source of bias in some studies (14, 35%), as was the risk due to selective reporting of results (6, 15%). The randomization process was considered at low risk of bias in most studies (34, 95%), as were missing data (36, 90%) and measurement of the outcome (35, 87%).

conclusionMany randomized trials evaluating COVID-19 interventions are at risk of bias, particularly those conducted in low-middle income countries. Biases are mostly due to deviations from intended interventions and partly due to the selection of reported results. The use of placebo control and publicly available protocol can mitigate many of these risks.

Indexed as

COVID-19BiasHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicResearch DesignCOVID-19 treatmentsLMICsRandomized trialsRisk of bias

Identifiers

PMID35597556
PMCPMC9113951
OpenAlexW4280640449

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.