Nguyen J, Li A, Tam DY, Forbes TL. ANALYSIS OF SPIN IN VASCULAR SURGERY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH NONSIGNIFICANT OUTCOMES.
J Vasc Surg 2021;
75:1074-1080.e17. [PMID:
34923067 DOI:
10.1016/j.jvs.2021.09.051]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 09/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Spin is the manipulation of language that distorts the interpretation of objective findings. The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of spin found in statistically nonsignificant randomized controlled trials (RCT) comparing carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to carotid artery stenting (CAS) for carotid stenosis (CS), and endovascular repair (EVAR) to open repair (OR) for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA).
METHODS
A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials was performed in June 2020 for studies published describing AAA or CS. All phase three RCTs with nonsignificant primary outcomes comparing OR to EVAR or CEA to CAS were included. Studies were appraised for the characteristics and severity of spin using a validated tool. Binary logistic regression was performed to assess the association of spin grade to (1) funding source (commercial vs non-commercial) and (2) the publishing journal's impact factor.
RESULTS
Thirty-one of 355 articles captured were included for analysis. Spin was identified in nine abstracts (9/18) and 13 main texts (13/18) of AAA articles and seven abstracts (7/13) and ten main texts (10/13) of CS articles. For both AAA and CS articles, spin was most commonly found in the manuscript discussion section, with the most commonly employed strategy being the interpretation of statistically nonsignificant primary results to show treatment equivalence or rule out adverse treatment effects. Increasing journal impact factor was associated with a statistically significant lower likelihood of spin in the study title or abstract conclusion (βOR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94 - 0.98, p < 0.01) while no significant association could be found with funding source (βOR = 1.33, 95% CI: 0.30-5.92, p = 0.71).
CONCLUSIONS
A large proportion of statistically nonsignificant RCTs contain interpretations that are inconsistent with their results. These findings should prompt authors and readers to appraise study findings independently and to limit the use of spin in study interpretations.
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