Document Detail


Positive-outcome bias: comparison of emergency medicine and general medicine literatures.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  7621207     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: The existence of positive-outcome bias in the medical literature is well established. Positive-outcome bias in two emergency medicine journals was compared with that found in two general medicine journals. METHODS: Published original contributions from Annals of Emergency Medicine, American Journal of Emergency Medicine, JAMA, and New England Journal of Medicine were reviewed. Articles were categorized as demonstrating a positive or negative outcome or showing no difference using new criteria. Descriptive articles were excluded. RESULTS: Of 700 articles reviewed, 177 emergency medicine and 211 general medicine articles met the study criteria. The emergency medicine journals had 142 articles (80%) with positive outcomes, 27 (15%) with negative outcomes, and 8 (5%) with no difference. The general medicine journals had 169 articles (80%) with positive outcomes, 33 (16%) with negative outcomes, and 9 (4%) with no difference. There was no significant difference between journal groups (chi-square; p = 0.99). The power of the study was 0.80 to detect a difference of 15% between groups with alpha set at 0.05. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in the proportions of positive-outcome studies published in this sample of the emergency medicine literature compared with the general medicine literature. The potential impact of positive-outcome bias and methods of dealing with the problem are reviewed.
Authors:
R Moscati; D Jehle; D Ellis; A Fiorello; M Landi
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Comparative Study; Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine     Volume:  1     ISSN:  1069-6563     ISO Abbreviation:  Acad Emerg Med     Publication Date:    1994 May-Jun
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1995-08-28     Completed Date:  1995-08-28     Revised Date:  2007-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9418450     Medline TA:  Acad Emerg Med     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  267-71     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Emergency Medicine
Family Practice
Humans
Periodicals as Topic*
Publication Bias*
Treatment Outcome
Comments/Corrections
Comment In:
Acad Emerg Med. 1994 May-Jun;1(3):207-9   [PMID:  7621197 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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