Potential publication bias in chiropractic and spinal manipulation research listed on clinicaltrials.gov
- PMID: 32476671
- PMCID: PMC7250511
Potential publication bias in chiropractic and spinal manipulation research listed on clinicaltrials.gov
Abstract
Introduction: Clinical trial registries are used to help improve transparency in trial reporting. Our study aimed to identify potential publication bias in chiropractic and spinal manipulation research by assessing data drawn from published studies listed in clinincaltrials.gov.
Methods: We searched the clinicaltrials.gov registry database for completed trials tagged with the key indexing terms chiropractic or spinal manipulation. We assessed if the trial registry had been updated with data, then searched for publications corresponding to the registered trials. Finally, the frequency of positive or negative results was determined from published studies.
Results: For the term 'chiropractic', 63% of studies supported the intervention and 52% supported the intervention for the term 'spinal manipulation'.
Discussion: Publication bias in chiropractic and spinal manipulation research listed in clinicaltrials.gov appears to occur. Further work may help understand why this happens and what may be done to mitigate this moving forward.
Introduction: Les registres des essais cliniques servent à accroître la transparence des rapports sur les essais. Notre étude visait à trouver les éventuels partis pris de publication dans les travaux de recherche sur la chiropratique et les manipulations vertébrales à l’aide de données tirées d’études publiées et répertoriées dans clinincaltrials.gov.
Méthodologie: Dans la base de données du registre clinicaltrials.gov, nous avons cherché des essais terminés marqués par les termes d’indexation « chiropratique » et « manipulation vertébrale ». Nous avons cherché à savoir si le registre des essais avait été mis à jour par l’ajout de données, puis nous avons recherché les publications correspondant aux essais répertoriés. Enfin, nous avons établi la fréquence des résultats positifs et négatifs à l’aide des études publiées.
Résultats: Avec le terme « chiropratique », 63 % des études étaient en faveur des interventions; avec l’expression « manipulation vertébrale »,52 % des études étaient en faveur des interventions.
Discussion: Il semble y avoir un parti pris de publication dans les travaux de recherche sur la chiropratique et les manipulations vertébrales répertoriés dans clinicaltrials.gov. D’autres travaux pourraient aider à comprendre la cause de ce phénomène et à trouver des moyens de le réduire dans l’avenir.
Keywords: chiropractic; publication bias; scientific journals.
© JCCA 2020.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors have no disclaimers, competing interests, or sources of support or funding to report in the preparation of this manuscript.
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