Clinical trials published almost two years after completion

Joseph S. Ross, M.D., M.H.S., from the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., examined the time to publication for a representative sample of clinical trials published in 2009, identified via ClinicalTrials.gov.

During the 2009 calendar year, the researchers found 1,336 trials published that were indexed via MEDLINE and linked to a ClinicalTrials.gov identifier. Most had more than 100 participants enrolled and were funded by nonprofit organizations. The median time to publication was 21 months (interquartile range, 13 to 32 months). Among trials funded by industry the time to publication was longer than for government- or nonprofit organization-funded trials (24 versus 20 months). There was a shorter time to publication for trials involving 1,000 or more participants than for those with 100 or fewer participants or 100 to 1,000 participants (18, 20, and 23 months, respectively). The journal impact factor affected time to publication, which was shorter for trials published in journals with an impact factor greater than 10 versus less than 10 (17 versus 23 months).

"Given the time required to publish results from these clinical trials, our findings support current federal initiatives requiring results reporting of clinical studies within 12 months of trial completion to ensure the timely dissemination of clinical science," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to Medtronic; one author disclosed ties to United Healthcare.

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Journal reference: JAMA Internal Medicine

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