Plastic and reconstructive surgery
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Plast. Reconstr. Surg. · Jan 2020
Discrepancies between Registered and Published Primary and Secondary Outcomes in Randomized Controlled Trials within the Plastic Surgery Literature: A Systematic Review.
Recent studies have identified a high incidence of discrepancy between registered and published outcomes in registered medical and surgical randomized controlled trials. This has not yet been studied in the plastic surgery literature. ⋯ The plastic surgery literature has high rates of discrepancies between registered and published trial outcomes. Outcome reporting discrepancy is even more problematic for secondary outcomes, an area of analysis that has previously been poorly studied. The high rate of discrepancy change favoring a statistically significant outcome and more patient-relevant outcomes may indicate the pressure to demonstrate significant results to be accepted for publication in high-impact journals.