<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
TUESDAY, Sept. 11, 2018 (HealthDay News) — The median data age in clinical trials in journals with a high impact factor is about three years at publication, according to a study published in the Aug. 10 issue of JAMA Network Open<\/i>.<\/p>\n
John Welsh, from Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional analysis of randomized clinical trials to characterize the age of clinical trial data at the time of publication in journals with a high impact factor. Data were included for 341 clinical trials published in 2015 in six journals.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that the median data age at publication was 33.9 months; the median data age was 30.6 months among the 10.9 percent of trials with a follow-up period of one month or less. Overall, 19.9 percent of trials required more than four years to complete enrollment. From completion of data collection to publication there was a median of 14.8 months; in 18.5 percent of trials, publication time was two years or more. Inconclusive or unfavorable trial results were correlated significantly with older data age (>235 days) in multivariable analyses with adjustment for follow-up time. Trials funded by government were associated with a significantly longer time to publication (>180 days) compared with trials funded only by private industry.<\/p>\n
“There are seemingly many opportunities for improvement in the clinical trial process and in the work of trialists with journal editors,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical, medical technology, and health insurance industries; one author served as an expert for litigation related to inferior vena cava filters.<\/p>\n