Table 2.
Frequency of Each Spin Category and Type in Reviewed Studies
Type | Spin Description | Abstracts w/ Spin | % |
---|---|---|---|
1 | The conclusion formulates recommendations for clinical practice not supported by the findings | 2/15 | 13.3% |
2 | The title claims or suggests a beneficial effect of the experimental intervention not supported by the findings | 1/15 | 6.7% |
3 | Selective reporting of or overemphasis on efficacy outcomes or analysis favoring the beneficial effect of the experimental intervention | 5/15 | 33.3% |
4 | The conclusion claims safety based on nonstatistically significant results with a wide confidence interval | 2/15 | 13.3% |
5 | The conclusion claims the beneficial effect of the experimental treatment despite a high risk of bias in primary studies | 5/15 | 33.3% |
6 | Selective reporting of or overemphasis on harm outcomes or analysis favoring the safety of the experimental intervention | 0/15 | 0.0% |
7 | The conclusion extrapolates the review findings to a different intervention (e.g., claiming efficacy of one specific intervention although the review covered a class of several interventions). | 0/15 | 0.0% |
8 | Conclusion extrapolates the review's findings from a surrogate marker or a specific outcome to the global improvement of the disease | 1/15 | 6.7% |
9 | Conclusion claims the beneficial effect of the experimental treatment despite reporting bias | 3/15 | 20.0% |
10 | Authors hide or do not present any conflict of interest | 5/15 | 33.3% |
11 | Conclusion focuses selectively on statistically significant efficacy outcome | 5/15 | 33.3% |
12 | Conclusion claims equivalence or comparable effectiveness for nonstatistically significant results with a wide confidence interval | 3/15 | 20.0% |
13 | Failure to specify the direction of the effect when it favors the control intervention | 6/15 | 40.0% |
14 | Failure to report a wide confidence interval of estimates | 10/15 | 66.7% |
15 | Conclusion extrapolates the review's findings to a different population or setting | 3/15 | 20.0% |