Data Stream
Pricing Out, Missing Out A Dizzying Amount of Spin
The financial toll of a cancer diagnosis forces many
patients to skip medications, even years after
cancer treatment has ended, according
to an analysis of data from the
National Health Interview
Survey from 2010 through
2015. More than half of reports published in the biomedical literature may be subject to some kind of “spin” to
put results in a more favorable light, if findings from a meta-analysis that investigated results distortion in
35 reports can be generalized.
The most common “spin tactics” were:
selective reporting
to distract readers
from statistically
non-significant
results:
57% of reports
discordance
between results
and their
interpretation:
26%
inappropriate use
of causal language:
9%
overinterpretation
or extrapolation of
results:
9%
Though spin “can negatively impact the development of further studies, clinical practice, and health poli-
cies … [it] is prevalent in the biomedical literature,” the authors concluded. “Further investigation of fac-
tors contributing to spin, particularly at the cultural and structural levels of research, is needed to develop
ways of reducing spin.”
Source: Chiu K, Grundy Q, Bero L. ‘Spin’ in published biomedical literature: a methodological systematic review. PLoS Biol. 2017 September
11. [Epub ahead of print]
In each year studied, cancer
survivors were
45
%
A Lose-Lose Situation
Gastric bypass surgery for weight loss may inadvertently raise a patient’s risk of developing anemia,
according to research published in JAMA Surgery.
more likely to forgo
prescription
medications than
patients without a
history of cancer.
In a study of 74 U.S. veterans who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass between 2002 and 2006, the
number of people with anemia continued to climb during each year of follow-up.
%
%
%
%
However, the overall number of
patients who skipped medications due
to cost
decreased 11
%
during the study period.
%
%
Before the
operation:
15 patients
1 year
post-
operation:
21 patients
5 years
post-
operation:
23 patients
10 years
post-
operation:
35 patients
Follow-up with a bariatric surgeon was a key factor in preventing anemia: Patients who saw a clinician
without bariatric expertise were six times more likely to develop anemia.
Sources: Reuters, September 5, 2017; Gonzales F, Zheng Z, Yabroff KR. Trends
in financial access to prescription drugs among cancer survivors. J Natl Cancer
Inst. 2017 August 24. [Epub ahead of print]
36
ASH Clinical News
Source: Chen GL, Kubat E, Eisenberg D, et al. Prevalence of anemia 10 years after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in a single Veterans Affairs
medical center. JAMA Surg. 2017 September 20. [Epub ahead of print]
December 2017