Ignite Creation Date:
2025-12-18 @ 9:50 AM
Ignite Modification Date:
2025-12-23 @ 10:51 PM
Study NCT ID:
NCT03071614
Status:
None
Last Update Posted:
2021-02-12 00:00:00
First Post:
2017-02-13 00:00:00
Is Possible Gene Therapy:
False
Has Adverse Events:
False
Brief Title:
Interpretation of Health News Items Reporting Results of Pre-clinical Studies With or Without Spin By English-speaking Population
Sponsor:
None
Organization:
Study Overview
Official Title:
Interpretation of Health News Items Reporting Results of Pre-clinical Studies With or Without Spin: A Randomized Controlled Trial Among English-speaking Population
Status:
None
Status Verified Date:
2021-02
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Lack of funds
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
Health news is an important way to communicate updated medical research to the public. News items reporting the results of medical research attract a large audience. However, the quality of reporting in health news is questionable. The merits of a wide range of treatments and tests are overplayed and harms are underplayed. Several studies have shown the presence of spin (i.e., distorted presentation of study results) in health news. Distorted facts can be misleading and can affect the behaviour of physicians, healthcare providers and patients. However, little research has assessed whether spin can affect readers' interpretation of health news items.
Objective: To compare the interpretation of health news items reported with or without spin. News items reporting pre-clinical studies evaluating the effect of a pharmacological treatment that received high online public attention will be focused. "Spin" is defined as a misrepresentation of study results whatever the motive (intentionally or unintentionally) to highlight that the beneficial effect of the intervention in terms of efficacy and safety is greater than that shown by the results.
Hypothesis: The hypothesis of this study is that the spin can influence the reader's interpretation of health news items reporting results of pre-clinical studies.
Design: A randomized controlled trial
1. Interventions: Health news items reporting results of pre-clinical studies with and without spin will be compared. A sample of health news items reporting the results of pre-clinical studies evaluating the effect of pharmacologic treatment and containing spin in the headline and text will be selected. Spin will be deleted in the selected news items and will be rewritten the news without spin.
2. Participants: The participants will include English-speaking population from FindParticipants (https://www.findparticipants.com/).
3. Sample size: For this RCT, the sample size will be 300 participants.
4. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome will be participants' interpretation of the benefit of treatment after reading the news (What do you think is the probability that treatment X would be beneficial to patients? (scale, 0 \[very unlikely\] to 10 \[very likely\]).
5. Expected results: This study will evaluate the impact of spin on the interpretation of news items reporting results of pre-clinical studies by English-speaking population.
Objective: To compare the interpretation of health news items reported with or without spin. News items reporting pre-clinical studies evaluating the effect of a pharmacological treatment that received high online public attention will be focused. "Spin" is defined as a misrepresentation of study results whatever the motive (intentionally or unintentionally) to highlight that the beneficial effect of the intervention in terms of efficacy and safety is greater than that shown by the results.
Hypothesis: The hypothesis of this study is that the spin can influence the reader's interpretation of health news items reporting results of pre-clinical studies.
Design: A randomized controlled trial
1. Interventions: Health news items reporting results of pre-clinical studies with and without spin will be compared. A sample of health news items reporting the results of pre-clinical studies evaluating the effect of pharmacologic treatment and containing spin in the headline and text will be selected. Spin will be deleted in the selected news items and will be rewritten the news without spin.
2. Participants: The participants will include English-speaking population from FindParticipants (https://www.findparticipants.com/).
3. Sample size: For this RCT, the sample size will be 300 participants.
4. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome will be participants' interpretation of the benefit of treatment after reading the news (What do you think is the probability that treatment X would be beneficial to patients? (scale, 0 \[very unlikely\] to 10 \[very likely\]).
5. Expected results: This study will evaluate the impact of spin on the interpretation of news items reporting results of pre-clinical studies by English-speaking population.
Detailed Description:
None
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
None
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?: