Thursday, October 24, 2013

7: Misrepresentation of Randomized Controlled Trials in Press Releases - Jeff Neal


Reading Summary 7: Misrepresentation of Randomized Controlled Trials in Press Releases and News Coverage: A Cohort Study

Jeff Neal

Reference: Citation: Yavchitz A, Boutron I, Bafeta A, Marroun I, Charles P, et al. (2012) Misrepresentation of Randomized Controlled Trials in Press Releases and News Coverage: A Cohort Study. PLoS Med 9(9): e1001308. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001308

Theme: The media and health industry use press releases to mislead the public. They only discuss the positive aspects of the health research making the public believe that the research resulted in a positive outcome, when many times there was insufficient data or more negative than positive results.



Summary: this article evaluated 498 press releases from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which are studies considered the gold standard for therapeutic evaluation. It was found that that half of the press releases contained "spin".  "Spin" is defined as specific reporting strategies (intentional or unintentional) emphasizing the beneficial effect of the experimental treatment.  This means that the press releases only discussed the positive effects and benefits of the health research being performed.   90% of the public read these press releases when looking for information about a health issue. The studies containing "spin" would take the positive aspects of the study and spend the majority of the release reviewing these findings, ignoring the problems that occurred.  Many times people in the studies would see not effect form the Drug, procedure or other health issue being research, but the press release would spend little time reviewing these findings.  If a company is preforming a study on a drug and they only report the negative or ineffective aspects of the drug then no one will believe that the drug has any value.  "Spin" is used to mislead the public that this drug is a good option.  This means that you can only believe about half of what you hear regarding a health research and the health industry.

Application to the lesson topic: In reading this article it reminded me of how many drugs I have heard advertise on in the media.  All drugs you hear about will advertise how good they are for people with a particular problem.  Then at the end of the ad they are required to list the side effects.  IF you listen to the side effects related to some drug it is scary.  Prozac is an example; here are the possible side effects:

severe blistering, peeling, and red skin rash; very stiff (rigid) muscles, high fever, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats, tremors, overactive reflexes; nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, feeling unsteady, loss of coordination; or headache, trouble concentrating, memory problems, weakness, confusion, hallucinations, fainting, seizure, shallow breathing or breathing that stops. Less serious side effects may include: cold symptoms such as stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat; drowsiness, dizziness, feeling nervous; mild nausea, upset stomach, constipation; increased appetite, weight changes; sleep problems (insomnia); decreased sex drive, impotence, or difficulty having an orgasm; or dry mouth.

Of course if they spent time discussing all the possible side effects of Prozac then no one would want to use it.
Application to emergency services: The fire service is guilty of using "spin" in press releases.  They do this to protect themselves and to continue to create a good public image.  Everyone wants to tell everyone what happened when things go well, but no one wants to tell about the times they mess up.  It's natural for this to happen.  The media can be a great way to share good and valuable information to the community.  Emergency managers need to be sure they know what is going on in their departments and assume that press releases are accurate and contain information that is valuable to the community but not detrimental to the department or city they work for

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