Spin in the abstracts of randomized controlled trials of nurse-led care: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Nurse-led models of care had been reported as effective intervention approaches for improving health management and reducing hospitalizations of target patients in a number of studies. However, the reporting quality of studies in the field varied and there was a lack of literature evaluation. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess the reporting quality and spin of abstracts of published randomized controlled trials which had statistically not significant primary outcomes. Moreover, potential factors associated with the presence of spin were also assessed. METHODS: Studies on nurse-led care were retrieved from PubMed from January 1st, 2017, to December 31st, 2021. Only randomized controlled trials with statistically not significant primary outcomes were included. Study screening and data extraction were carried out by two reviewers independently. The reporting quality of each abstract was evaluated by the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement, and spin strategies were analyzed using a pre-designed assessment form. Potential predictors for the presence of spin were analyzed by multivariate logistic regressions. RESULTS: The overall reporting quality of the included 75 randomized controlled trial abstracts was not satisfying, with a median score of 16-item Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement at 6 (IQR 5, 8). Forty abstracts used at least one spin strategy in abstracts. Among them, 18 (45.0 %) used spin strategies in the result section and 39 (97.5 %) had spin in the conclusion section. The most common spin strategy identified in abstracts was focusing on statistically significant secondary outcomes (12/40, 30.0 %) in the result section and claiming benefit with no consideration of statistically not significant results for the primary outcomes (32/40, 80.0 %) in the conclusion section. Based on the definition, 29 (72.5 %) abstracts were assessed to have high level of spin in the conclusions of abstracts. By multivariate logistic regression analyses, it was found that only geographic origin (reference: studies from Asian countries, OR = 0.118, 95 % CI 0.027 to 0.511, P = 0.004) and the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement score (reference: lower score, OR = 0.625, 95 % CI 0.470 to 0.829, P = 0.001) were significantly associated with the presence of spin in abstracts. CONCLUSION: Among the randomized controlled trials with statistically not significant primary outcomes in the field of nurse-led care, the reporting quality of abstracts needs to be improved. Trials from Asian countries and with lower Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement scores are more likely to present spin in abstracts. Findings reported in the result and conclusion sections of these abstracts need to be interpreted with caution.

Increasing patients' ability to identify their physicians with a photo album: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: Patients in teaching hospitals often encounter difficulty in correctly identifying their physicians. We hypothesized that a photo album of physicians might increase the ability of patients to correctly identify their physicians and hence conducted this study to test the hypothesis. DESIGN: A prospective study was conducted. SETTING: Department of Surgery, The Third XiangYa Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: THE PATIENTS WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS ON ADMISSION: group A as intervention group (n = 75) and group B as control group (n = 94). All the patients were verbally informed of their medical team but only the patients in group A (the intervention group) were also shown the photos of their medical team. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: One day before being discharged, the patients in group A (the intervention group) were asked to return the photo albums, and all the patients from both groups were asked to give the names of their caring physicians prior to departure from the hospital. RESULTS: Only 53% of the patients (50 out of 94) in group B (the control group) could give at least one of their physicians' name, while 85% of the patients (64 out of 75) in group A (the intervention group) could tell at least one of their physicians' name; there is a significant difference (p < 0.005, 95% CI, 17.4-44.7%). CONCLUSION: Patients' ability to identify their physicians can be significantly increased with a photo album.