Academic literature on the topic 'Suboptimal reporting practices'

Objectives: This study aims to assess the extent of ethics reporting practices in aging research from Arab countries. Methods: A systematic scoping review of research on aging in 22 Arab countries from seven databases (1994-2013) identified 637 publications warranting institutional ethical approval and 612 publications warranting informed consent. We used multivariable regression analysis to examine variations by time, place, and study characteristics. Results: Only 36.6% of articles reported approval from a Research Ethics Committee and 38.7% reported informed consent. Reporting of ethical research practices increased significantly over time and as research collaborations and journal impact factor increased, and when sampling frame included institutionalized participants. In contrast, failure to report ethical research practices was significantly more common in non-English articles and those that did not report a funding source. Discussion: Despite gains across time, reporting of ethical research practices remains suboptimal in the Arab region. Further guidelines and capacity building are needed.

Background Cervical cancer incidence and mortality in Estonia are among the highest in Europe, although the overall coverage with cervical cytology is high. This indicates potential issues with the quality of collection and/or laboratory evaluation of cervical cytology. Objectives The aim of the retrospective observational study was to assess the quality of cervical cytology specimen collection, evaluation, and reporting using laboratory reports in Estonia. Methods The study included women with a cervical cancer diagnosis in 2017−2018. Cervical cytology and histology reports for these women in 2007−2018 were obtained from ten laboratories. We described the quality of cytology specimen collection and reporting of cytology results. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) to identify factors associated with NILM as the last cervical cytology result within 5 or 2 years before the cervical cancer diagnosis. Also, we calculated cytology-histology correlation (CHC). Results We identified 503 cytology and 100 histology reports from 138 women. The laboratories differed greatly regarding human resources, work capacity and volume. Differences between local and regional laboratories were observed in reporting specimen adequacy (P < .001). We found that local laboratories had 3 times higher odds (OR = 2.95, 95% CI: 1.05−8.33) of reporting normal results 2 years before cancer diagnosis than regional laboratories. According to the CHC, 58.9% of pairs were in agreement. Conclusions The study showed considerable heterogeneity and suboptimal performance of cervical cytology practices in Estonia, particularly at local laboratories. Efforts to improve laboratory quality assurance are crucial.

An adverse event following immunization (AEFI) is any untoward medical occurrence that follows immunization and does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine. Reporting of AEFI is suboptimal amongst healthcare workers (HWs). This study aimed to determine predictors of HW’s reporting of AEFI. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among HWs in selected health facilities (HFs) in Jigawa State using an open data kit self-administered questionnaire to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, training, knowledge, and their practices on AEFI reporting. Analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for frequencies, proportions, and associations using bivariate analysis and multivariate analysis using logistic regression to determine predictors of AEFI reporting with statistical significance set at p<0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Of the 400 respondents, 280 (70%) respondents had good knowledge of AEFI, 328(82%) sends routine AEFI reports and of 212 (53%) who recently encountered an AEFI, 174 (82.1%) exhibited some good reporting practices. Female gender (AOR 0.46, p=0.035), full-time employees (AOR 0.227, p=0.019), a recent encounter with an AEFI (AOR 3.087, p=0.007) and being trained on AEFI (AOR 5.54, p=0.011), reporting to elicit training (AOR 2.70, p=0.031) were predictors of routine reporting from health facility and reporting an encountered AEFI respectively. Overall, gender, employment status, being trained, and recent AEFI encounter to elicit training were predictors of AEFI reporting. To improve reporting of AEFI, there is a need to engage and train health workers on AEFI surveillance. Keywords: Adverse events following immunization, Knowledge, Practice, Predictors, Reporting.

The exercise consisted of: 1) a short survey to acquire baseline data on current practices regarding the conduct of animal studies, 2) a series of presentations for promoting awareness and providing advice and practical tools for improving experimental design, and 3) a follow-up survey 12 mo later to assess whether practices had changed. The surveys were compulsory for responsible investigators ( n = 16; paired data presented). Other investigators named on animal ethics applications were encouraged to participate (2017, total of 36 investigators; 2018, 37 investigators). The major findings to come from the exercise included 1) a willingness of investigators to make changes when provided with knowledge/tools and solutions that were relatively simple to implement (e.g., proportion of responsible investigators showing improved practices using a structured method for randomization was 0.44, 95% CI (0.19; 0.70), P = 0.003, and deidentifying drugs/interventions was 0.40, 95% CI (0.12; 0.68), P = 0.010); 2) resistance to change if this involved more personnel and time (e.g., as required for allocation concealment); and 3) evidence that changes to long-term practices (“habits”) require time and follow-up. Improved practices could be verified based on changes in reporting within publications or documented evidence provided during laboratory visits. In summary, this exercise resulted in changed attitudes, practices, and reporting, but continued follow-up, monitoring, and incentives are required. Efforts to improve experimental rigor will reduce bias and will lead to findings with the greatest translational potential. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The goal of this exercise was to encourage preclinical researchers to improve the quality of their cardiac and metabolic animal studies by 1) increasing awareness of concerns, which can arise from suboptimal experimental designs; 2) providing knowledge, tools, and templates to overcome bias; and 3) conducting two short surveys over 12 mo to monitor change. Improved practices were identified for the uptake of structured methods for randomization, and de-identifying interventions/drugs. Listen to this article's corresponding podcast at https://ajpheart.podbean.com/e/experimental-design-survey-training-practical-tools/ .

Objective: To investigate and compare knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding pharmacovigilance (PV) and the reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADR) among physicians and pharmacists in primary care settings. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, in which a validated self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 386 physicians and 197 pharmacists in 38 primary care clinics in Kuwait. Categorical variables were described using numbers and percentages. The Pearson χ2 test, Fisher exact test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used as appropriate. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of the 583 questionnaires distributed, 485 were completed (by 318 physicians and 167 pharmacists), giving an overall response rate of 83.2%. A total of 52.8% (n = 256) and 70.5% (n = 341) of the study participants were knowledgeable about the definitions of PV and ADR, respectively, with pharmacists demonstrating significantly better knowledge of PV (n = 105/167 vs. 151/318, i.e., 62.9 vs. 47.5%; p < 0.001) and purpose (n = 123/167 vs. 177/318, i.e., 74.1 vs. 55.7%; p < 0.001). However, the majority (n = 434/485; 89.4%) were not aware of an ADR reporting system in Kuwait. Almost every participant (n = 474/485; 97.7%) thought it was necessary to report ADR. However, significantly fewer physicians than pharmacists (n = 248/318 vs. 147/167, i.e., 78.0 vs. 88.0%; p < 0.01) believed that ADR reporting was a professional obligation. Only 27.8% (n = 133/485) had reported ADR, with pharmacists having reported significantly fewer than physicians (n = 35/167 vs. 98/318, i.e., 21.7 vs. 30.8%; p = 0.036). Conclusions: This study indicated that the attitude was positive but there was suboptimal knowledge and poor practice among primary care physicians and pharmacists with regard to ADR reporting. Targeted training about ADR reporting while ensuring a robust regulatory framework would encourage ADR reporting practices in the primary health care setting in Kuwait.

ABSTRACT Rapid pathogen identification can alter antibiotic prescribing practices if interpreted correctly. Microbiology reporting can be difficult to understand, and new technology has made it more challenging. Nebraska Medicine recently implemented the BioFire FilmArray blood culture identification panel (BCID) coupled with stewardship-based education on interpretation. Physician BCID result interpretation and prescribing were assessed via an electronic survey, with a response rate of 40.8% (156/382 surveys). Seven questions required respondents to interpret BCID results, identify the most likely pathogen, and then choose therapy based on the results. The tallied correct responses resulted in a knowledge score. General linear models evaluated the effect of role, specialty, and utilization of the BCID interpretation guide on the mean knowledge score. The specialties of the respondents included 55.7% internal medicine, 19.7% family medicine, and 24.6% other. Roles included 41.1% residents, 5.0% fellows, and 53.9% faculty. Most reported that they reviewed antimicrobial susceptibility results (89.4%) and adjusted therapy accordingly (81.6%), while only 60% stated that they adjusted therapy based on BCID results. The correct response rates ranged from 52 to 86% for the interpretation questions. The most common errors included misinterpretation of Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus genus results. Neither role nor specialty was associated with total knowledge score in multivariate analysis ( P = 0.13 and 0.47, respectively). In conclusion, physician interpretation of BCID results is suboptimal and can result in ineffective treatment or missed opportunity to narrow therapy. With the implementation of new technology, improved reporting practices of BCID results with clinical decision support tools providing interpretation guidance available at the point of care is recommended.

Background: Information retrieval (IR) in health technology assessment (HTA) calls for transparency and reproducibility, but common practice in the documentation and presentation of this process is inadequate in fulfilling this demand.Objectives: Our objective is to promote good IR practice by presenting the conceptualization of retrieval and transcription readable to non-information specialists, and reporting of effectively processed search strategies.Methods: We performed a comprehensive database search (04/2010) to synthesize the current state-of-the-art. We then developed graphical and tabular presentation methods and tested their feasibility on existing research questions and defined recommendations.Results: No generally accepted standard of reporting of IR in HTA exists. We, therefore, developed templates for presenting the retrieval conceptualization, database selection, and additional hand-searching as well as for presenting search histories of complex and lengthy search strategies. No single template fits all conceptualizations, but some can be applied to most processes. Database interface providers report queries as entered, not as they are actually processed. In PubMed®, the huge difference between entered and processed query is shown in “Details.” Quality control and evaluation of search strategies using a validated tool such as the PRESS checklist is suboptimal when only entry-query based search histories are applied.Conclusions: Moving toward an internationally accepted IR reporting standard calls for advances in common reporting practices. Comprehensive, process-based reporting and presentation would make IR more understandable to others than information specialists and facilitate quality control.

This review documents the status of AMR education and awareness in the WHO African region, as well as specific initiatives by its member states in implementing education and awareness interventions, as a strategic objective of the Global Action Plan on AMR, i.e., improve knowledge and understanding on AMR through effective communication, education, and training. A systematic search was conducted in Google Scholar, PubMed, and African Journals Online Library according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, for articles published in English. Retrieval and screening of articles was performed using a structured search protocol following a pre-set inclusion/exclusion criterion. Eighty-five published articles reporting 92 different studies from 19 Member States met inclusion criteria and were included in the final qualitative synthesis. Nigeria (21) and Ethiopia (16) had most of the studies, while the rest were distributed across the remaining 17 Member States. The majority of the articles were on knowledge, attitude, and practices with regard to AMR and antimicrobial use and most of them documented a general lack and suboptimal knowledge, poor attitude and practices, and widespread self-medication. This review shows low levels of knowledge of AMR coupled with extensive misuse of antimicrobial medicines by different target audiences. These findings underscore the urgent need for enhanced and context-specific educational and positive behavioural change interventions.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been increasingly used to pool research findings from multiple studies in medical sciences. The reliability of the synthesized evidence depends highly on the methodological quality of a systematic review and meta-analysis. In recent years, several tools have been developed to guide the reporting and evidence appraisal of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and much statistical effort has been paid to improve their methodological quality. Nevertheless, many contemporary meta-analyses continue to employ conventional statistical methods, which may be suboptimal compared with several alternative methods available in the evidence synthesis literature. Based on a recent systematic review on COVID-19 in pregnancy, this article provides an overview of select good practices for performing meta-analyses from statistical perspectives. Specifically, we suggest meta-analysts (1) providing sufficient information of included studies, (2) providing information for reproducibility of meta-analyses, (3) using appropriate terminologies, (4) double-checking presented results, (5) considering alternative estimators of between-study variance, (6) considering alternative confidence intervals, (7) reporting prediction intervals, (8) assessing small-study effects whenever possible, and (9) considering one-stage methods. We use worked examples to illustrate these good practices. Relevant statistical code is also provided. The conventional and alternative methods could produce noticeably different point and interval estimates in some meta-analyses and thus affect their conclusions. In such cases, researchers should interpret the results from conventional methods with great caution and consider using alternative methods.

Family planning remains a critical aspect of maternal health and population management in Uganda, particularly in rural areas. Despite concerted efforts to increase awareness and accessibility, utilization rates remain suboptimal. This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of family planning among mothers attending antenatal care in Kyotera district, Uganda. A sample of 138 participants completed questionnaires, revealing a nuanced landscape: while overall knowledge of family planning was high (73.9%), a significant minority demonstrated poor understanding (26.1%). Similarly, though the majority exhibited positive attitudes towards family planning (71.0%), a substantial proportion held negative views (29.0%). Notably, 62.3% of mothers were not utilizing any family planning methods, despite 37.7% reporting usage, with injectable contraceptives being the most common (42.3%). These findings underscore the need for targeted education campaigns, enhanced service accessibility, and dispelling misconceptions to promote informed decision-making and uptake of family planning methods. Addressing these challenges is vital for improving maternal health outcomes and managing population growth in rural Uganda. Keywords: Family planning, Maternal health, Kyotera district, Rural Uganda, Antenatal care, Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices.

Des pratiques de recherche responsables et des rapports équitables sont un élément de l'intégrité de la recherche. Des articles publiés dans The Lancet ont illustré le problème du gaspillage au cours des différentes étapes de la recherche, à savoir la conception, la réalisation et le compte rendu. Étant donné qu'une grande partie de ce gaspillage est évitable, il est nécessaire de développer et de mettre en œuvre des remèdes. Parmi ceux-ci, l'interprétation et la présentation précises des résultats dans les données publiées sont essentielles afin d'éviter de produire des études trompeuses et de gaspiller des ressources précieuses. L'objectif principal de ce projet de thèse était d'identifier et de documenter les pratiques de présentation sous-optimales dans les rapports publiés et de suggérer des stratégies privilégiées pour les surmonter. Nous avons enquêté sur la présence du ‘spin’, catégorisée comme une représentation erronée et une surinterprétation des résultats d'études sur les biomarqueurs du cancer de l'ovaire (chapitre 1), et analysé les pratiques qui facilitent le spin (chapitre 2). Nous avons ensuite évalué l'association entre les caractéristiques déclarées des essais et les estimations de l'effet du traitement dans les essais randomisés sur la thérapie à la testostérone chez les hommes (chapitre 3). À ce jour, la littérature biomédicale ne fait état d'aucune intervention visant à atténuer ou à réduire la prévalence du spin. Dans cette étude, nous avons développé une intervention éditoriale spécifique pour réduire le spin et avons mené un essai contrôlé randomisé à deux bras en groupes parallèles pour évaluer son impact. Nous avons mené cette étude en collaboration avec BMJ Open, une revue médicale générale (chapitre 4). Alors que les projets précédents se concentraient sur les problèmes liés aux rapports et aux déficiences méthodologiques des articles publiés, nous nous sommes également intéressés à la culture de publication. Les défis qui menacent la validité et la crédibilité des rapports publiés vont au-delà de l'atténuation du spin des articles publiés. Par exemple, des entités connues sous le nom de revues et d'éditeurs "prédateurs" envahissent le monde de l'édition savante, mais on sait peu de choses sur les articles qu'elles publient. Nous avons examiné près de 2000 études biomédicales provenant de plus de 200 revues considérées comme susceptibles d'être prédatrices, en enregistrant leurs plans d'étude et leurs caractéristiques épidémiologiques et de rapport (chapitre 5). La publication d'articles dans des revues scientifiques n'est pas exclusivement destinée à la communauté scientifique et au progrès académique ; elle a également pour but de diffuser les résultats scientifiques au public. Des mesures alternatives, telles que les scores Altmetric, ont été développées pour mesurer l'attention que les publications reçoivent des médias d'information sociale et des blogs, dans le but d'évaluer la fréquence à laquelle les articles de revues et autres résultats scientifiques sont discutés et utilisés dans le monde. Les facteurs liés au mode de vie et leur association avec la santé et la longévité ont toujours suscité un grand intérêt de la part du public, et génèrent une attention considérable de la part des médias sociaux et d'information. Nous nous sommes demandés si le haut niveau d'intérêt pour les interventions et les différences alimentaires est un phénomène persistant, et avons effectué une analyse des scores Altmetric des études nutritionnelles, par rapport à d'autres interventions en évaluant plus de 300 articles publiés dans des revues médicales en 2019 avec un score Altmetric de plus de 50 (chapitre 6). Le dernier chapitre (chapitre 7) fournit un résumé des résultats et met en évidence des stratégies potentielles pour éviter ces problèmes et ces lacunes dans le processus de publication, dans le but ultime d'augmenter la confiance et la valeur des rapports publiés de la recherche clinique
Responsible research practices and fair reporting is an element of research integrity. Articles published in The Lancet illustrated the problem of waste during various stages of research encompassing design, conduct and reporting. Given that much of this waste is avoidable, there is a need to develop and implement remedies. Of these, accurate interpretation and presentation of results in published data is essential in order to avoid producing misleading studies and waste valuable resources. The overarching aim of this PhD project was to identify and document suboptimal reporting practices in published reports and to suggest preferred strategies to overcome these. We investigated the presence of spin, further categorized as misrepresentation and overinterpretation of study findings in ovarian cancer biomarkers (Chapter1), and analyzed practices that facilitate spin, such as suboptimal design features and inadequate reporting of methods (Chapter2). We then evaluated the association between reported trial characteristics (e.g., related to study design, sample size, sequence generation, blinding, funding and conflict of interest) and treatment effect estimates in randomized trials of testosterone therapy in men (Chapter3). Having documented the level of spin in previous study, it was also relevant to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention that guides authors to reduce spin in their published articles. To estimate the effect of the intervention compared to the usual peer-review process on reducing spin in the abstract of biomedical study reports, we conducted a two-arm, parallel-group RCT in a sample of primary research manuscripts submitted to BMJ Open (Chapter4). In the intervention group, authors received short instructions as part of the decision letter alongside the peer reviewers’ comments to check for and remove spin in the abstract of their revised manuscript. In the control group, the authors received recommended editorial revisions and reviewers’ comments in their usual manner. Where the previous projects focused on issues in the reporting and methodological deficiencies in published articles, we also focused on the publication culture. Challenges that threaten the validity and credibility of published reports span beyond attenuating spin in published articles. For example, entities that have become known as ‘predatory’ journals and publishers are permeating the world of scholarly publishing, yet little is known about the articles they publish. We examined nearly 2000 biomedical studies from more than 200 journals thought likely to be predatory, recording their study designs and their epidemiological and reporting characteristics (Chapter5). Publication of articles in scientific journals is not exclusively for the scientific community and academic progress; it also serves the purpose of disseminating scientific findings to the public. Alternative metrics, such as Altmetric scores, have been developed to measure the attention publications receive from social news media and blogs, in an attempt to measure how often journal articles and other scholarly outputs are discussed and used around the world. Lifestyle factors and their association with health and longevity have always been of great public interest, and generate significant attention from social and news media. We wondered whether the high level of interest in dietary interventions and differences is a persisting phenomenon, and performed an analysis of the Altmetric scores of nutritional studies, relative to other interventions by evaluating more than 300 articles published in medical journals in 2019 with an Altmetric score of more than 50. This project is reported in Chapter6. The final chapter, Chapter7, provides a summary of the findings and highlights potential strategies to avoid these problems and deficiencies in the publishing process, with the ultimate goal of increasing confidence and value in published reports of clinical research

Earnings management is an important factor that considerably affects the reporting quality of firms and conceivably results in suboptimal investor decisions. The presence of active institutional investors among the equity holders is generally accepted as an external control mechanism that moderates earnings management problems. This chapter aimed to evaluate the role of institutional investors on earnings management with a data of firms listed on Borsa Istanbul between 2005 and 2011. The study found a significant and negative relation between institutional ownership level and managerial discretion exercised in opportunistic management of accruals and confirmed the substantial role played by institutional investors in monitoring and disciplining corporate managers. In other words, the managers' tendency for earnings management practices is observed to be mitigated by institutional shareholdings.