Skip to main content

Table 2 Reporting characteristics of the study design and analysis of the titles or abstracts of the included studies

From: Reporting of abstracts in studies that used routinely collected data for exploring drug treatment effects: a cross-sectional survey

Reporting item

Total

Journal type

(n = 222)

Top 5 general medicine (n = 19)

Other journals (n = 203)

Objective in a framed manner, n (%)

 Population

186 (83.8)

14 (73.7)

172 (84.7)

 Exposure

206 (92.8)

18 (94.7)

188 (92.6)

 Comparator

99 (44.6)

12 (63.2)

87 (42.9)

 Outcomes

203 (91.4)

17 (89.5)

186 (91.6)

Study design, n (%)

127 (57.2)

19 (100.0)

108 (53.2)

Location of study design reporting

 Reporting in title

21 (16.5)

1 (5.3)

20 (18.5)

 Reporting in abstract

50 (39.4)

5 (26.3)

45 (41.7)

 Reporting both in title and abstract

56 (44.1)

13 (68.4)

43 (39.8)

Type of study design

 Cohort study

96 (75.6)

17 (89.5)

79 (73.2)

 Case-control

14 (11.0)

1 (5.3)

13 (12.0)

 Nested case-control

16 (12.6)

1 (5.3)

15 (13.9)

 Case-crossover

1 (0.8)

0 (0.0)

1 (0.9)

Application of new user design, n (%)

57 (25.7)

16 (84.2)

41 (20.2)

Timeframe of research n (%)

173 (77.9)

19 (100.0)

154 (75.9)

Follow-up duration

79 (35.6)

15 (79.0)

64 (31.5)

Statistical model used

140 (63.1)

9 (47.4)

131 (64.5)

Categories of statistical model

 Cox proportional hazard model

78 (55.7)

5 (55.6)

73 (55.7)

 Logistic regression

34 (24.3)

2 (22.2)

32 (24.4)

 Other a

28 (20.0)

2 (22.2)

26 (19.9)

Absolute risk b,c

113 (50.9)

10 (52.6)

103 (50.7)

 Crude

48 (42.5)

5 (50.0)

43 (41.8)

 Adjusted d

9 (8.0)

2 (20.0)

7 (6.8)

 Both

4 (3.5)

0 (0.0)

4 (3.9)

 Not reported or unclear

52 (46.0)

3 (30.0)

49 (47.6)

Relative risk e

183 (82.4)

17 (89.5)

166 (81.8)

 Crude

2 (1.1)

0 (0.0)

2 (1.2)

 Adjusted d

136 (74.3)

14 (82.4)

122 (73.5)

 Both

6 (3.3)

1 (5.9)

5 (3.0)

 Not reported or unclear

39 (21.3)

2 (11.8)

37 (22.3)

Estimators of relative risk g

 Risk ratio

11 (5.0)

1 (5.3)

10 (4.9)

 Odds ratio

52 (23.4)

4 (21.1)

48 (23.7)

 Hazard ratio

121 (54.5)

12 (63.2)

109 (53.7)

 Other relative risk f

4 (1.8)

1 (5.3)

3 (1.5)

Sensitive analysis

33 (14.9)

7 (36.8)

26 (12.8)

Robustness of sensitive analysis

28 (84.9)

7 (100.0)

21 (80.8)

Subgroup analysis

33 (14.9)

5 (26.3)

28 (13.8)

  1. a The multivariable generalized linear models, linear regression models, regression models without specifications (e.g., multiple regression model, multivariable regression model), fixed, random or mixed effect models, and other ambiguous statements were included (e.g., “inverse probability weighting model with regression adjustment”, “competing risk models”)
  2. b The absolute risk means the probability or change that the outcome will occur, including the incidence rate, number of events or rate difference between exposure and comparator
  3. c Did the article reporting absolute risk clearly specify or indicate whether the absolute risk was crude or adjusted? Both crude and adjusted were considered “yes”, and not clearly specified was considered “no”
  4. d Statements such as “multivariate analysis”, “propensity score adjustment”, “adjusted some covariates” and claims of adjusted estimators were considered when determining that the reported absolute risk was adjusted
  5. e Relative risk refers to the chance that participants will experience events in the exposure group compared to the comparator group or the exposure rate in the case compared to the control group
  6. f Other relative risks mainly include incidence rate ratios (IRRs)
  7. g Did the article reporting relative risk clearly specify or indicate whether the relative risk was crude or adjusted? Both crude or adjusted were considered “yes”, and not clearly specified was considered “no”
Back to article page

BMC Medical Research Methodology

ISSN: 1471-2288

Contact us