Objective To evaluate the right usage of statistical methods in medical articles. Methods 544 theses from eight medical journalspublished during1998 and 2005 were analyzed. Results 136 theses had obvious statistical errors,accounting for 25.00%. The main types of the errors were: the wrong methods of data analyzing for 61.76%, diagram error for 14.71%, nonstatistical dealing for8.82%, the mixture of rate and ratio for 8.82%, and the other error for 5.88%. Conclusion The statistical methods should be highly valued. Despite handing themanuscript to the specialist in the same field, the statistician checking system should be built through the process of manuscript dealing.
Objective To evaluate the reporting quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in seven military medical journals. Methods Seven journals in 2007, including Medical Journal of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Journal of South Medical University, Journal of Second Military Medical University, Journal of Third Military Medical University, Journal of Fourth Military Medical University, Bulletin of the Academy of Military of Medical Sciences and Academic Journal of PLA Postgraduate Medical School, were handsearched. We identified RCTs labeled “random” and assessed the quality of these reports using the Consolidated Standards for Reporting of Trials (CONSORT) statement. Results We identified 99 RCTs, but found an incorrect randomized method was used in 6 RCTs. According to the items in the CONSORT statement in 93 RCTs, 62 (66.7%) RCTs described baseline demographic and clinical characteristics in each group. Sixteen (17.2%) RCTs mentioned the method of random sequence generation, with 5 (5.4%) using a computer allocation. Only 1 RCT had adequate allocation concealment. Only 9 (9.7%) RCTs used blinding, with 2 mentioning blinding, 1 using single blinding and 6 described as double-blind (2 were correct). Zero (0%) reported the sample size calculation and 1 RCT reported the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. Conclusion The reporting quality of RCTs in seven journals is poor. The CONSORT statement should be used to standardize the reporting of RCTs.
Objective To learn the current status, publication standards, formats, and contents of medical advertisements published in journals in China, and to discuss the possibility of evidence-based evaluation and standards for advertisement publication. Methods We handsearched Issue One, 2008 of 222 core medical journals indexed by A Guide to the Core Journals of China (2004 version) and the most important databases to index top 20% academic journals to identify basic journal information and the content of their advertisements. The general and trade name of the drugs, and the advertisements and production license number of the drugs and devices were collected. We used EXCEL software for data input and SPSS 13.0 for statistical analyses. Results Two-hundred and eighteen journals were handsearched and evaluated. The other 4 journals were excluded because the print version could not be found. A total of 1,201 advertisements were published in 159 (72.9%) of the journals, with the average of 5.5 (range of 1-37) for each journal. Of the advertisements, 910 (75.8%) were related to medical drugs or devices, including 598 (49.8%) drug and 312 (26.0%) medical device advertisements. Most of them were published in clinical and special medical journals. There were 518 (86.6%) drug advertisements which had both advertisement license and production license number, but only 116 (36.1%) medical device advertisements stated the advertisement license and production license number. Conclusion The medical drug advertisements published in core medical journals in China lack sufficient publication standards, and medical device advertisements are even worse. We cannot conclude the efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of advertisement production according to the current limited, unclear, and highly-commercialized advertisements.
The quality of reporting of randomized clinical trials could be significantly improved by the application of CONSORT （Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials） statement. We compared and analyzed the difference of acceptance of CONSORT statement between Chinese medical journals and Western medical journals, and proposed to disseminate and apply CONSORT statement to improve the quality of reporting of randomized clinical trials and medical journals.
Objective To identify patterns in information sharing between a series of Chinese evidence based medicine (EBM) journals and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, to determine key evidence dissemination areas for EBM and to provide a scientific basis for improving the dissemination of EBM research. Method Data were collected on citing and cited from the Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine (CJEBM), Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine (JEBMc), Chinese Journal of Evidence Based Pediatrics (CJEBP), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR). Relationships between citations were visualized. High-frequency key words from these sources were identified, to build a word co-occurrence matrix and to map research subjects. Result CDSR contains a large collection of information of relevance to EBM and its contents are widely cited across many journals, suggesting a well-developed citation environment. The content and citation of the Chinese journals have been increasing in recent years. However, their citation environments are much less developed, and there is a wide variation in the breadth and strength of their knowledge communication, with the ranking from highest to lowest being CJEBM, JEBMc and CJEBP. The content of CDSR is almost exclusively Cochrane intervention reviews examining the effects of healthcare interventions, so it’s contribution to EBM is mostly in disease control and treatment. On the other hand, the Chinese journals on evidence-based medicine and practice focused more on areas such as education and research, design and quality of clinical trials, evidence based policymaking, evidence based clinical practice, tumor treatment, and pediatrics. Conclusion Knowledge and findings of EBM are widely communicated and disseminated. However, citation environments and range of knowledge communication differ greatly between the journals examined in this study. This finds that Chinese EBM has focused mainly on clinical medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, pediatrics, tumor treatment, nursing, health economic and management, and medical education. Internationally, EBM research topics have begun to shift, from drug treatment to surgery or other non-pharmacological treatments; from therapy to diagnosis, rehabilitation, and prevention; from evidence based clinical practice to evidence based management and policymaking. The philosophy and method of EBM, evidence production and translation are also shifting from well resourced settings to low- and middle-income countries, especially those in which English is not a major language.