Purpose: Spin - the misrepresentation of the study's actual findings - carries the ability to distort a reader's perception of a treatments' full benefits and risks. Recent studies have suggested that spin is common in abstracts of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews focused on treatments for a variety of medical disorders. Therefore, our primary objective was to evaluate the prevalence of spin in the abstracts of systematic reviews and meta-analyses related to glaucoma treatments. We further assessed whether specific study characteristics were associated with spin, including the methodological quality of a study.

Patients And Methods: We used a cross-sectional study design searching MEDLINE and Embase databases all for systematic reviews and meta-analyses focused on glaucoma treatments. Each abstract was assessed for the nine most severe - severity determined by likelihood of distorting a reader's perception - types of spin that occur in systematic review abstracts. The screening and data extraction was performed in a duplicate, masked fashion. The methodological quality of each review was assessed using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR-2) instrument. To evaluate relationships between spin, AMSTAR-2 appraisals, and other study characteristics, we used unadjusted odds ratios and Fisher's exact test.

Results: Only three of the 102 abstracts contained spin, with spin type 5 being the most prevalent. No abstracts contained spin types 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8, and no association was found between the presence of spin in an abstract and any particular study characteristic. Using the AMSTAR-2 quality appraisal instrument, 35 (34.3%) of the studies received a methodological quality rating as high, 42 (41.2%) as moderate, 11 (10.8%) as low, and 14 (13.7%) as critically low.

Conclusions: We found that's pin is present in only a small proportion of systematic reviews and meta-analyses covering the treatment of glaucoma. In comparison to studies in other fields of medicine, ophthalmology appears to be a leader in publishing systematic reviews and meta-analyses with low rates of spin occurring in the abstract.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/IJG.0000000000001735DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

systematic reviews
28
reviews meta-analyses
20
methodological quality
12
spin
11
spin abstracts
8
systematic
8
abstracts systematic
8
reader's perception
8
glaucoma treatments
8
study characteristics
8

Similar Publications

ChatGPT's Attitude, Knowledge, and Clinical Application in Geriatrics Practice and Education: Exploratory Observational Study.

JMIR Form Res

January 2025

Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, United States.

Background: The increasing use of ChatGPT in clinical practice and medical education necessitates the evaluation of its reliability, particularly in geriatrics.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate ChatGPT's trustworthiness in geriatrics through 3 distinct approaches: evaluating ChatGPT's geriatrics attitude, knowledge, and clinical application with 2 vignettes of geriatric syndromes (polypharmacy and falls).

Methods: We used the validated University of California, Los Angeles, geriatrics attitude and knowledge instruments to evaluate ChatGPT's geriatrics attitude and knowledge and compare its performance with that of medical students, residents, and geriatrics fellows from reported results in the literature.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although many studies have demonstrated a lower incidence of sudden cardiac arrest or death (SCA/D) in female athletes than in male, there is limited understanding of the specific underlying causes.

Objective: This systematic review aimed to assess the disparities in SCA/D incidence between male and female competitive athletes and explore the associated etiologies.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted for retrospective and prospective studies examining SCA/D incidence in male and female athletes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Many studies have developed or validated predictive models to estimate the risk of sarcopenia in dialysis patients, but the quality of model development and the applicability of the models remain unclear.

Objective: To systematically review and critically evaluate currently available predictive models for sarcopenia in dialysis patients.

Methods: We systematically searched five databases until March 2024.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objective: Non-motor symptoms frequently develop throughout the disease course of Parkinson's disease (PD), and pose affected individuals at risk of complications, more rapid disease progression and poorer quality of life. Addressing such symptom burden, the 2023 revised "Parkinson's disease" guideline of the German Society of Neurology aimed at providing evidence-based recommendations for managing PD non-motor symptoms, including autonomic failure, pain and sleep disturbances.

Methods: Key PICO (Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) questions were formulated by the steering committee and refined by the assigned authors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Selective outcome reporting concerning antibiotics and third molar surgery.

Clin Oral Investig

January 2025

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2227 - Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, 05508-000, Brazil.

Objectives: This study evaluates the selective outcome reporting (SOR) in clinical trials on antibiotic use in third molar surgeries. It explores how SOR may bias results and affect systematic reviews, potentially leading to misinterpretations of intervention efficacy.

Materials And Methods: A search was conducted on "ClinicalTrials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!