Authors
Xin Sun, Matthias Briel, Jason W Busse, John J You, Elie A Akl, Filip Mejza, Malgorzata M Bala, Dirk Bassler, Dominik Mertz, Natalia Diaz-Granados, Per Olav Vandvik, German Malaga, Sadeesh K Srinathan, Philipp Dahm, Bradley C Johnston, Pablo Alonso-Coello, Basil Hassouneh, Stephen D Walter, Diane Heels-Ansdell, Neera Bhatnagar, Douglas G Altman, Gordon H Guyatt
Publication date
2012/3/15
Source
Bmj
Volume
344
Publisher
British Medical Journal Publishing Group
Description
Objective To investigate the credibility of authors’ claims of subgroup effects using a representative sample of recently published randomised controlled trials.
Design Systematic review.
Data source Core clinical journals, as defined by the National Library of Medicine, in Medline.
Study selection Randomised controlled trials published in 2007. Using prespecified criteria, teams of trained reviewers independently judged whether authors claimed subgroup effects and the strength of their claims. Reviewers assessed each of these claims against 10 predefined criteria, developed through a search of existing criteria and a consensus process.
Results Of 207 randomised controlled trials reporting subgroup analyses, 64 (31%) made claims for the primary outcome. Of those, 20 were strong claims and 28 claims of a likely effect. Authors included subgroup variables measured at baseline in 60 (94%) trials, used subgroup …
Total citations
Scholar articles
X Sun, M Briel, JW Busse, JJ You, EA Akl, F Mejza… - Bmj, 2012