AUTHOR=Veldhuis Nienke , Nuijts Myrthe A. , Isphording Luka , Lee-Kong Felicia V. Y. L. , Imhof Saskia M. , Stegeman Inge 

TITLE=Linguistic spin in randomized controlled trials about age-related macular degeneration

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Epidemiology

VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/epidemiology/articles/10.3389/fepid.2022.961996

DOI=10.3389/fepid.2022.961996

ISSN=2674-1199

ABSTRACT=Objective: To evaluate the prevalence, type and extent of linguistic spin in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) exploring interventions in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as well as to investigate whether study variables were correlated with linguistic spin.
Study design and setting: PubMed was searched from 2011 to 2020 to identify RCTs including patients with AMD. Two authors independently assessed a total of 96 RCTs. Linear regression analyses were performed to investigate whether linguistic spin was correlated with predefined study variables.
Results: Linguistic spin was found in 61 of 96 abstracts (63.5%) and in 90 of 96 main texts (93.8%). Use of words pointing out the beneficial effect of a treatment and the use of ‘(statistically) significant/significance’ without reporting a P-value or a 95% confidence interval (CI) were the most frequently identified categories of linguistic spin. Sample size was significantly correlated with the total linguistic spin score (95% CI 0.38 – 5.23, P = .02).
Conclusion: A high prevalence and extent of linguistic spin in RCTs about AMD was found. We highlighted the importance of objective reporting and awareness of linguistic spin among ophthalmologists and other readers.