Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36429987›Full record

SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022

Inappropriate Evaluation of Effect Modifications Based on Categorical Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Akihiro Shiroshita, Norio Yamamoto, Natsumi Saka, Motohiro Okumura, Hiroshi Shiba, Yuki Kataoka

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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.

Akihiro ShiroshitaDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Ichinomiyanishi Hospital, Ichinomiya 494-0001, Japan.ORCID 0000-0003-0262-459X
Norio YamamotoScientific Research WorkS Peer Support Group (SRWS-PSG), Osaka 541-0043, Japan.ORCID 0000-0002-7902-9994
Natsumi SakaScientific Research WorkS Peer Support Group (SRWS-PSG), Osaka 541-0043, Japan.ORCID 0000-0002-5907-2995
Motohiro OkumuraDepartment of Neurology, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8471, Japan.ORCID 0000-0003-1973-4816
Hiroshi ShibaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Suwa Central Hospital, Chino 391-8503, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-9660-0462
Yuki KataokaScientific Research WorkS Peer Support Group (SRWS-PSG), Osaka 541-0043, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-7982-5213

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Our meta-epidemiological study aimed to describe the prevalence of reporting effect modification only on relative scale outcomes and inappropriate interpretations of the coefficient of interaction terms in nonlinear models on categorical outcomes. Our study targeted articles published in the top 10 high-impact-factor journals between 1 January and 31 December 2021. We included two-arm, parallel-group, interventional superiority randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effects of modifications on categorical outcomes. The primary outcomes were the prevalence of reporting effect modifications only on relative scale outcomes and that of inappropriately interpreting the coefficient of interaction terms in nonlinear models on categorical outcomes. We included 52 articles, of which 41 (79%) used nonlinear regression to evaluate effect modifications. At least 45/52 articles (87%) reported effect modifications based only on relative scale outcomes, and at least 39/41 (95%) articles inappropriately interpreted the coefficient of interaction terms merely as indices of effect modifications. The quality of the evaluations of effect modifications in nonlinear models on categorical outcomes was relatively low, even in randomized controlled trials published in medical journals with high impact factors. Researchers should report effect modifications of both absolute and relative scale outcomes and avoid interpreting the coefficient of interaction terms in nonlinear regression analyses.

Indexed as

Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicEffect Modifier, Epidemiologiceffect modificationmeta-epidemiological studynonlinear regressionrandomized controlled trialrelative scale outcome

Identifiers

PMID36429987
PMCPMC9690675

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.