Hidden treasures: Exploring selective publication of trials and trial outcomes in biologic treatment for plaque psoriasis

Abstract

Studies with statistically significant positive results are more likely to be published than studies with negative or inconclusive results (1). An example in dermatology were the studies with imiquimod for viral warts, which were 'negative' but never published by the funding pharmaceutical companies (2).

By comparing published data to publically accessible data held by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Turner et al. (3) found that reporting biases (in particular outcome switching and study publication bias) inflated the effect size of antidepressants by 32%.

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