Empirical Evidence for Selective Reporting of Outcomes in Randomized Trials

Abstract

The reporting of trial outcomes is not only frequently incomplete but also biased and inconsistent with protocols. Published articles, as well as reviews that incorporate them, may therefore be unreliable and overestimate the benefits of an intervention. To ensure transparency, planned trials should be registered and protocols should be made publicly available prior to trial completion.

Keywords

MedicineOdds ratioRandomized controlled trialConfidence intervalOddsReporting biasMeta-analysisMEDLINEPublication biasNumber needed to harmInternal medicineFamily medicineNumber needed to treatRelative riskLogistic regression

Related Publications

Statistical Problems in the Reporting of Clinical Trials

Stuart Pocock , Michael D. Hughes , Robert J. Lee

Reports of clinical trials often contain a wealth of data comparing treatments. This can lead to problems in interpretation, particularly when significance testing is used exten...

1987 New England Journal of Medicine 668 citations

CONSORT 2010 Statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials

Kenneth F. Schulz , Douglas G. Altman , David Moher

The CONSORT statement is used worldwide to improve the reporting of randomised controlled trials. Kenneth Schulz and colleagues describe the latest version, CONSORT 2010, which ...

2010 BMC Medicine 13258 citations

The Revised CONSORT Statement for Reporting Randomized Trials: Explanation and Elaboration

D G Altman

Overwhelming evidence now indicates that the quality of reporting of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) is less than optimal. Recent methodologic analyses indicate that inadeq...

2001 Annals of Internal Medicine 3794 citations

CONSORT for Reporting Randomized Controlled Trials in Journal and Conference Abstracts: Explanation and Elaboration

Sally Hopewell , Mike Clarke , David Moher +4 more

CONSORT for Abstracts aims to improve reporting of abstracts of RCTs published in journal articles and conference proceedings. It will help authors of abstracts of these trials ...

2008 PLoS Medicine 658 citations

The Magic of Randomization versus the Myth of Real-World Evidence

Rory Collins , Louise Bowman , Martin Landray +1 more

Nonrandomized observational analyses have been promoted as alternatives to randomized clinical trials. However, randomization ensures balance between groups, whereas nonrandomiz...

2020 New England Journal of Medicine 451 citations

Publication Info

Year: 2004
Type: article
Volume: 291
Issue: 20
Pages: 2457-2457
Citations: 1794
Access: Closed

External Links

View on DOI.org

Social Impact

Altmetric

Empirical Evidence for Selective Reporting of Outcomes in Randomized Trials

PlumX Metrics

Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

Citation Metrics

1794

OpenAlex

Cite This

APA Style

                            
                                
                                    An‐Wen Chan, 
                                
                                    Asbjørn Hróbjartsson, 
                                
                                    Mette T. Haahr
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (2004). 
                            Empirical Evidence for Selective Reporting of Outcomes in Randomized Trials. 
                            JAMA
                            , 291
                            (20)
                            , 2457-2457.
                            https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.291.20.2457
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1001/jama.291.20.2457