Prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health: A cross-sectional analysis of global trial registries

Objectives We sought to examine the prevalence of prospective registration and publication rates in digital health trials. Materials and Methods We included 417 trials that enrolled participants in 2012 and were registered in any of the 17 WHO data provider registries. The evaluation of the prospect...

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Main Authors: Mustafa Al-Durra, Robert P Nolan, Emily Seto, Joseph A Cafazzo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2022-04-01
Series:Digital Health
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221090034
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author Mustafa Al-Durra
Robert P Nolan
Emily Seto
Joseph A Cafazzo
author_facet Mustafa Al-Durra
Robert P Nolan
Emily Seto
Joseph A Cafazzo
author_sort Mustafa Al-Durra
collection DOAJ
description Objectives We sought to examine the prevalence of prospective registration and publication rates in digital health trials. Materials and Methods We included 417 trials that enrolled participants in 2012 and were registered in any of the 17 WHO data provider registries. The evaluation of the prospective trial registration was based on the actual difference between the registration and enrollment dates. We identified existing publications through an automated PubMed search by every trial registration number as well as a pragmatic search in PubMed and Google based on extracted metadata from the trial registries. Results The prospective registration and publication rates were at (38.4%) and (65.5%), respectively. We identified a statistically significant ( p  < 0.001) “Selective Registration Bias” with 95.7% of trials published within a year after registration, were registered retrospectively. We reported a statistically significant relationship ( p  = 0.003) between prospective registration and funding sources, with industry-funded trials having the lowest compliance with prospective registration at (14.3%). The lowest non-publication rates were in the Middle East (26.7%) and Europe (28%), and the highest were in Asia (56.5%) and the U.S. (42.5%). We found statistically significant differences ( p  < 0.001) between trial location and funding sources with the highest percentage of industry-funded trials in Asia (17.4%) and the U.S. (3.3%). Conclusion The adherence of investigators to the best practices of trial registration and result dissemination is still evolving in digital health trials. Further research is required to identify contributing factors and mitigation strategies to low compliance rate with trial publication and prospective registration in digital health trials.
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spelling doaj.art-efd69aae07e142d1bd886a1b0db834862022-12-22T02:08:54ZengSAGE PublishingDigital Health2055-20762022-04-01810.1177/20552076221090034Prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health: A cross-sectional analysis of global trial registriesMustafa Al-Durra0Robert P Nolan1Emily Seto2Joseph A Cafazzo3 Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Institute of Health Policy, , Toronto, ON, Canada Department of Psychology, , Toronto, ON, Canada Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Institute of Health Policy, , Toronto, ON, Canada , Toronto, ON, CanadaObjectives We sought to examine the prevalence of prospective registration and publication rates in digital health trials. Materials and Methods We included 417 trials that enrolled participants in 2012 and were registered in any of the 17 WHO data provider registries. The evaluation of the prospective trial registration was based on the actual difference between the registration and enrollment dates. We identified existing publications through an automated PubMed search by every trial registration number as well as a pragmatic search in PubMed and Google based on extracted metadata from the trial registries. Results The prospective registration and publication rates were at (38.4%) and (65.5%), respectively. We identified a statistically significant ( p  < 0.001) “Selective Registration Bias” with 95.7% of trials published within a year after registration, were registered retrospectively. We reported a statistically significant relationship ( p  = 0.003) between prospective registration and funding sources, with industry-funded trials having the lowest compliance with prospective registration at (14.3%). The lowest non-publication rates were in the Middle East (26.7%) and Europe (28%), and the highest were in Asia (56.5%) and the U.S. (42.5%). We found statistically significant differences ( p  < 0.001) between trial location and funding sources with the highest percentage of industry-funded trials in Asia (17.4%) and the U.S. (3.3%). Conclusion The adherence of investigators to the best practices of trial registration and result dissemination is still evolving in digital health trials. Further research is required to identify contributing factors and mitigation strategies to low compliance rate with trial publication and prospective registration in digital health trials.https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221090034
spellingShingle Mustafa Al-Durra
Robert P Nolan
Emily Seto
Joseph A Cafazzo
Prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health: A cross-sectional analysis of global trial registries
Digital Health
title Prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health: A cross-sectional analysis of global trial registries
title_full Prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health: A cross-sectional analysis of global trial registries
title_fullStr Prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health: A cross-sectional analysis of global trial registries
title_full_unstemmed Prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health: A cross-sectional analysis of global trial registries
title_short Prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health: A cross-sectional analysis of global trial registries
title_sort prospective trial registration and publication rates of randomized clinical trials in digital health a cross sectional analysis of global trial registries
url https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221090034
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