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. 2002 Jul 13;325(7355):81–84. doi: 10.1136/bmj.325.7355.81

Table.

Factors associated with the issuing of press releases of original research published in the Lancet or BMJ and factors associated with reporting in the Times or Sun

Factor
No of research articles published (n=1193)
Press released (n=517)
Reported in Times or Sun (n=81)
No (%) of articles
Odds ratio (95% CI)
No (%) of articles
Odds ratio (95% CI)
Study design:
  Observational study* 444 219 (49) 1.0 (reference) 47 (11) 1.0 (reference)
 Randomised trial 295 133 (45) 0.84 (0.63 to 1.13) 5 (2) 0.15 (0.06 to 0.37)
 Systematic review 70 25 (36) 0.57 (0.34 to 0.96) 4 (6) 0.51 (0.18 to 1.47)
 Other 384 139 (36) 0.59 (0.45 to 0.78) 25 (7) 0.59 (0.35 to 0.98)
Nature of results:
  Good news 533 237 (44) 1.0 (reference) 30 (6) 1.0 (reference)
 Bad news 447 217 (49) 1.18 (0.92 to 1.52) 42 (9) 1.74 (1.07 to 2.83)
 Neutral 213 63 (30) 0.52 (0.37 to 0.74) 9 (4) 0.74 (0.34 to 1.58)
Focus on:
  Women's health 144 93 (65) 2.69 (1.84 to 3.94) 25 (17) 3.73 (2.14 to 6.32)
 Babies or children 163 82 (50) 1.38 (0.98 to 1.96) 13 (8) 1.23 (0.61 to 2.31)
 Men's health 36 19 (53) 1.49 (0.72 to 3.06)  4 (11) 1.75 (0.44 to 5.13)
 Elderly people 39 18 (46) 1.13 (0.56 to 2.24) 0 Not defined
 Cancer patients 105 55 (52) 1.49 (0.98 to 2.27) 19 (18) 3.66 (1.97 to 6.53)
 Heart patients 172 70 (41) 0.88 (0.62 to 1.24) 8 (5) 0.63 (0.26 to 1.35)
 Diabetes patients 27 6 (22) 0.37 (0.12 to 0.95) 1 (4) 0.52 (0.01 to 3.27)
 Reproduction 84 54 (64) 1.85 (1.19 to 2.91) 13 (15) 2.43 (1.18 to 4.68)
 Mental health 73 40 (55) 1.63 (0.99 to 2.71) 5 (7) 1.01 (0.31 to 2.58)
Study location:
  United Kingdom 554 249 (45) 1.0 (reference) 54 (10) 1.0 (reference)
 Other industrialised 518 216 (42) 0.88 (0.69 to 1.12) 27 (5) 0.51 (0.31 to 0.82)
 Developing country 121 52 (43) 0.92 (0.62 to 1.37) 0 Not defined
*

Cohort, cross sectional, case-control, or ecological study. 

Reference groups: all other studies.