Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42860472›Full record

ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2026

Reporting quality and spin in abstracts of randomized clinical trials related to oral mucositis.

Khadijeh Al-Abedalla, Ahmad A Hamdan, Qais Alsaghir, Yazan Hassona, Effie Ioannidou, Murad Shaqman

Abstract read
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Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2026. 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

6 authors.

Khadijeh Al-AbedallaDepartment of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine and Periodontology, School of Dentistry, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. k.zubi@ju.edu.jo.
Ahmad A HamdanDepartment of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine and Periodontology, School of Dentistry, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1972-1177
Qais AlsaghirDepartment of Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-3392-543X
Yazan HassonaDepartment of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine and Periodontology, School of Dentistry, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1480-8134
Effie IoannidouDivision of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1954-5900
Murad ShaqmanDepartment of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine and Periodontology, School of Dentistry, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0630-6863

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeOral mucositis is a common debilitating side effect of cancer therapy. Numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have examined interventions for this complication. Accurate reporting of RCT results in abstracts is crucial to treatment decisions. Spin undermines the integrity of the information presented and compromises evidence-based practice. This study evaluated the reporting quality of, and spin in, abstracts of RCTs of four interventions for oral mucositis: benzydamine, photobiomodulation therapy, oral cryotherapy, and keratinocyte growth factor, and assessed factors that can affect reporting quality and spin.

methodsPubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus were systematically searched for RCTs related to oral mucositis treatments published until September 2024. The CONSORT for Abstracts (CONSORT-A) and spin checklists were then applied to assess reporting quality of and spin in their abstracts.

resultsAmong 112 RCTs that were analyzed, the overall CONSORT-A score for reporting quality was low, and key elements such as study design and outcome reporting were frequently not reported. Only 16 of these RCTs were analyzed for spin and only two RCTs had no spin. Higher reporting quality was significantly correlated with greater abstract word counts (r = 0.35; p < 0.001) and pharmaceutical funding when compared with articles that did not report funding (p = 0.015). Spin was negatively correlated with the Altmetric attention score (r =  - 0.652; p = 0.006).

conclusionsAbstracts of RCTs on oral mucositis interventions frequently did not meet the reporting standards defined by the CONSORT-A checklist. Enhanced adherence to reporting guidelines is necessary to support evidence-based clinical practices.

Indexed as

Abstracting and IndexingRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicResearch DesignStomatitisChecklistCryotherapyHumansNeoplasmsAbstractsCancerMucositisQuality of reportingRandomized controlled trials as topicSpinSupportive care

Identifiers

PMID42860472

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.