Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: Clinical trials are the backbone of evidence syntheses, such as systematic reviews, guidelines, and health technology assessments (HTA). Accordingly, usage of a clinical trial in evidence syntheses can be used as proxy for quality and the practical value of the trial and hence for the transfer of knowledge. Characteristics of published studies were reported for various fields [1-6], specific journals [7, 8], and the 'Clinical Trialsá database, formerly known as 'Cochrane Central Register on Controlled Trialsá (CENTRAL) [9]. A recent paper assessed the countries of origin of studies used for Cochrane reviews [10]. However, only little is known on studies used for HTA reports. These reports have crucial impact on health spending of countries as they are used to inform decisions on reimbursement of drugs, medical devices, and health technologies.
Objectives: To examine the characteristics of studies included for HTA reports.
Methods: HTA reports by members of the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) of four countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain) will be included. Characteristics of studies (e.g. country of origin, year of publication, number of participants, type of HTA report, type of study, and information on funding, if available) will be extracted independently by two reviewers. Results will be presented quantitatively and adjusted for economic power and size of countries. Results/Conclusions: Preliminary results for Germany (based on 59 reports including 1099 studies) showed the USA as the leading contributor (27%), followed by the UK (7%) and Germany (5%). All countries are dependent on evidence from clinical trials generated in other countries. This is particularly true for continental European countries who contribute fewer trials to the global knowledge pool as the UK and USA do. We will present detailed results for all four countries and discuss possible implications of our findings.
References
1. Soteriades ES, Rosmarakis ES, Paraschakis K, Falagas ME (2005) Research contribution of different world regions in the top 50 biomedical journals (1995-2002). Fed Am Soc Exp Biol 20:29-34.
2. de Jong JW, Schaper W (1996) The international rank order of clinical cardiology. Eur Heart J 17:35-42.
3. Rahman M, Haque TL, Fukui T (2005) Research articles published in clinical radiology journals: trend of contribution from different countries. Acad Radiol 12:825-829.
4. Grossi F, Belvedere O, Rosso R (2003) Geography of clinical cancer research publications from 1995 to 1999. Eur J Cancer 39:106-111.
5. Lambers Heerspink HJ, Knol MJ, Tijssen RJW, van Leeuwen TN, Grobbee DE, et al. (2008) Is the randomized controlled drug trial in Europe lagging behind the USA? Br J Clin Pharmacol 66:774-780.
6. Rahman M, Fukui T (2003) Biomedical publication - global profile and trend. Pub Health 117:274-280.
7. Johnson CD, Green BN (2008) Trends in articles published over the past 20 years in the journal of chiropractic education: country of origin, academic affiliation, and data versus nondata studies. J Chiropr Educ 22:4-11.
8. Ozsunar Y, Unsal A, Akdilli A, Karaman C, Huisman TA, et al. (2001) Technology and archives in radiology research: a sampling analysis of articles published in the AJR and Radiology. American Journal of Roentgenology. Am J Roentgenol 177:1281-1284.
9. Gluud C, Nikolova D (2007) Likely country of origin in publications on randomised controlled trials and controlled clinical trials during the last 60 years. Trials8.
10. Wolff RF, Reinders S, Barth M, Antes G (2011) Distribution of Country of Origin in Studies Used in Cochrane Reviews. PLoS ONE 6(4): e18798. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018798
Objectives: To examine the characteristics of studies included for HTA reports.
Methods: HTA reports by members of the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) of four countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain) will be included. Characteristics of studies (e.g. country of origin, year of publication, number of participants, type of HTA report, type of study, and information on funding, if available) will be extracted independently by two reviewers. Results will be presented quantitatively and adjusted for economic power and size of countries. Results/Conclusions: Preliminary results for Germany (based on 59 reports including 1099 studies) showed the USA as the leading contributor (27%), followed by the UK (7%) and Germany (5%). All countries are dependent on evidence from clinical trials generated in other countries. This is particularly true for continental European countries who contribute fewer trials to the global knowledge pool as the UK and USA do. We will present detailed results for all four countries and discuss possible implications of our findings.
References
1. Soteriades ES, Rosmarakis ES, Paraschakis K, Falagas ME (2005) Research contribution of different world regions in the top 50 biomedical journals (1995-2002). Fed Am Soc Exp Biol 20:29-34.
2. de Jong JW, Schaper W (1996) The international rank order of clinical cardiology. Eur Heart J 17:35-42.
3. Rahman M, Haque TL, Fukui T (2005) Research articles published in clinical radiology journals: trend of contribution from different countries. Acad Radiol 12:825-829.
4. Grossi F, Belvedere O, Rosso R (2003) Geography of clinical cancer research publications from 1995 to 1999. Eur J Cancer 39:106-111.
5. Lambers Heerspink HJ, Knol MJ, Tijssen RJW, van Leeuwen TN, Grobbee DE, et al. (2008) Is the randomized controlled drug trial in Europe lagging behind the USA? Br J Clin Pharmacol 66:774-780.
6. Rahman M, Fukui T (2003) Biomedical publication - global profile and trend. Pub Health 117:274-280.
7. Johnson CD, Green BN (2008) Trends in articles published over the past 20 years in the journal of chiropractic education: country of origin, academic affiliation, and data versus nondata studies. J Chiropr Educ 22:4-11.
8. Ozsunar Y, Unsal A, Akdilli A, Karaman C, Huisman TA, et al. (2001) Technology and archives in radiology research: a sampling analysis of articles published in the AJR and Radiology. American Journal of Roentgenology. Am J Roentgenol 177:1281-1284.
9. Gluud C, Nikolova D (2007) Likely country of origin in publications on randomised controlled trials and controlled clinical trials during the last 60 years. Trials8.
10. Wolff RF, Reinders S, Barth M, Antes G (2011) Distribution of Country of Origin in Studies Used in Cochrane Reviews. PLoS ONE 6(4): e18798. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018798