Industry-supported meta-analyses compared with meta-analyses with non-profit or no support: differences in methodological quality and conclusions.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Studies have shown that industry-sponsored meta-analyses of drugs lack scientific rigour and have biased conclusions. However, these studies have been restricted to certain medical specialities. We compared all industry-supported meta-analyses of drug-drug comparisons with those without industry support.

Methods

We searched PubMed for all meta-analyses that compared different drugs or classes of drugs published in 2004. Two authors assessed the meta-analyses and independently extracted data. We used a validated scale for judging the methodological quality and a binary scale for judging conclusions. We divided the meta-analyses according to the type of support in 3 categories: industry-supported, non-profit support or no support, and undeclared support.

Results<

SUBMITTER: Jorgensen AW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2553412 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature