Abstract
BackgroundData from scientific literature show that about 63% of abstracts presented at biomedical conferences will be published in full. Some studies have indicated that full publication is associated with the direction of results (publication bias). No study has looked into the occurrence of publication bias in the field of addiction.ObjectivesTo investigate whether the significance or direction of results of abstracts presented at the major international scientific conference on addiction is associated with full publicationMethodsThe conference proceedings of the US Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), were handsearched for abstracts of randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials that evaluated interventions for prevention, rehabilitation and treatment of drug addiction in humans (years searched 1993–2002). Data regarding the study designs and outcomes reported were extracted. Subsequent publication in peer reviewed journals was searched in MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, as of March 2006.ResultsOut of 5919 abstracts presented, 581 met the inclusion criteria; 359 (62%) conference abstracts had been published in a broad variety of peer reviewed journals (average time of publication 2.6 years, SD +/- 1.78). The proportion of published studies was almost the same for randomized controlled trials (62.4%) and controlled clinical trials (59.5%) while studies that reported positive results were significantly more likely to be published (74.5%) than those that did not report statistical results (60.9%.), negative or null results (47.1%) and no results (38.6%), s reporting positive results had a significantly higher probability of being published in full, while abstracts reporting null or negative results were half as likely to be published compared with positive ones (HR = 0.48; 95%CI 0.30–0.74)ConclusionClinical trials were the minority of abstracts presented at the CPDD; we found evidence of possible publication bias in the field of addiction, with negative or null results having half the likelihood of being published than positive ones.
Highlights
Data from scientific literature show that about 63% of abstracts presented at biomedical conferences will be published in full
The proportion of published studies was almost the same for randomized controlled trials (62.4%) and controlled clinical trials (59.5%) while studies that reported positive results were significantly more likely to be published (74.5%) than those that did not report statistical results (60.9%.), negative or null results (47.1%) and no results (38.6%), Abstracts reporting positive results had a significantly higher probability of being published in full, while abstracts reporting null or negative results were half as likely to be published compared with positive ones (HR = 0.48; 95%Confidence Interval (CI) 0.30–0.74)
Clinical trials were the minority of abstracts presented at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD); we found evidence of possible publication bias in the field of addiction, with negative or null results having half the likelihood of being published than positive ones
Summary
Data from scientific literature show that about 63% of abstracts presented at biomedical conferences will be published in full. Data from a systematic review [1] of reports that examine the rate of full publication of results presented as abstracts show that 63% of abstracts presented at biomedical meetings will be published in full and that positive study outcomes are more likely to be subsequently published. This results in a particular form of bias known as publication bias; this bias has a particular impact on the quality of systematic reviews, which involve the comprehensive and unbiased identification of relevant studies. Systematic reviews will tend to over-estimate treatment effects
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