Abstract
Abstracts are the most-read element of any scientific report (Pitkin and Branagan, 1998), yet they do not always convey the full message revealed in the body of a publication. As an example of this, Hopewell et al. (2008) noted that a physician in Africa unwittingly altered an effective perinatal HIV-prevention program to a less effective one solely on the basis of information provided in an abstract. The full text revealed weaknesses, including small sample size and incomplete data, and the results were unlikely to be applicable to a physician’s situation; ultimately, the decision to alter practice based entirely on the abstract’s conclusions may have resulted in increased perinatal HIV transmission. Although it is unfortunate that this physician did not have access to full reports, the example nevertheless illustrates the potential human cost of misleading abstracts.
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