Spin among abstracts of randomized controlled trials in sleep medicine: a research-on-research study

Study Objectives Spin, using reporting strategies to distort study results, can mislead readers of medical research. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of spin among randomized controlled trial (RCT) abstracts published in sleep medicine journals, and to identify factors associated with its presence and severity. Methods The search for RCTs published between 2010 and 2020 were conducted in seven reputable journals of sleep medicine. Abstracts of RCTs with statistically nonsignificant primary outcomes were included and analyzed for spin, according to predetermined spin strategies. Chi-square tests or logistic regression analyses were performed to detect the association between characteristics of included abstracts and the presence and severity of spin. Results A total of 114 RCT abstracts were included in this study, of which 89 (78.1%) were identified as having at least one type of spin strategy. Sixty-six abstracts (57.9%) had spin in the Results section, 82 (71.9%) abstracts presented with spin in the Conclusions section. The presence of spin varied significantly among RCTs based on the different categories of research area (p = 0.047) and the statistician involvement (p = 0.045). Furthermore, research area (p = 0.019) and funding status (p = 0.033) were significant factors associated with the severity of spin. Conclusions The prevalence of spin is high among RCT abstracts in sleep medicine. This raises the need for researchers, editors, and other stakeholders to be aware of the issue of spin and make joint efforts to eliminate it in future publications.

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of spin in randomized controlled trial (RCT) abstracts published in sleep medicine journals and identify factors associated with its presence and severity. The results showed that out of 114 included RCT abstracts, 89 (78.1%) were identified as having at least one type of spin strategy. The presence of spin varied significantly based on the research area and the involvement of statisticians. The study highlights the need for collective efforts to eliminate spin in future sleep medicine publications.