Impact of Adding a Limitation Section in Abstract of Systematic Review on Interpretation by Readers: a Randomised Controlled Trial
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 300
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Confidence in the Results of the Systematic Review
Study Overview
Brief Summary
Objective: The investigators aim to evaluate the impact of a adding a " limitations " section in systematic review's abstract on result's interpretation by readers Design: randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms. Participants will be invited to participate in an online survey.
Participants: Eligible participants are corresponding authors of clinical trials published between 2010 and 2012 and referenced in Medline.
Intervention: The investigators will evaluate the impact of the presence of a " limitations " section in abstract of systematic review with meta- analysis. The investigators selected abstracts of meta-analysis from a sample.
Selected abstract will be standardised and the treatment's name hidden. Two groups of abstract will be presented as follow: 1) abstract without " limitations " section 2) abstract with " limitations " section. The " limitations " section will be written by authors and will briefly describe the risk of bias of included studies.
Selected participant are invited by e-mail to answer the survey. After reading one abstract from his/her group of randomisation they are invited to answer 5 questions about their interpretation of the results.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Other
- Masking
- Single (Participant)
Eligibility Criteria
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •corresponding authors of clinical trail indexed in pubmed with email address available
Exclusion Criteria
- Not provided
Arms & Interventions
abstract with limitation section added
we add a limitation section in each selected abstract, the limitation section will focus on the quality of included studies.
Intervention: interpretation of the abstract of the systematic review (Behavioral)
abstract without limitation section
We selected 30 abstracts with a conclusion in favour the experimental treatment from a sample of systematic reviews that evaluate the effect of health care intervention.
Intervention: interpretation of the abstract of the systematic review (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Confidence in the Results of the Systematic Review
Time Frame: 1 month
we ask participants: "how confident are you in the results of this study?", with the choice of answer based on a 10 points Likert scale (score from 0, not at all confident, to 10, very confident )
Secondary Outcomes
- Confidence With the Validity of the Conclusions(1 month)
- Beneficial Effect of the Experimental Intervention(1 month)
- The Rigor of the Systematic Review(1 month)
- Influence of Results on Clinical Practice(1 month)