An investigation of the contents of complementary and alternative medicine journals.

CONTEXT Previous research suggests that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) journals publish few clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses and a high proportion of positive articles.OBJECTIVE This study describes the content of major CAM journals in 2005 and compares key findin...

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Publicado en:Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine Vol. 13; no. 4; pp. 40 - 45
Autores principales: Coelho HF, Pittler MH, Ernst E
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: InnoVisions Professional Media Jul/Aug2007
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: An investigation of the contents of complementary and alternative medicine journals.
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          Coelho HF
          Pittler MH
          Ernst E
        affil: Research Fellow, Complementary Medicine, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, United Kingdom.
      sug:
        subj:
          Alternative Therapies
          Serial Publications Evaluation
          Coding
          Funding Source
          PubMed
          Replication Studies
          Research, Alternative Therapies
          Treatment Outcomes
          Human
      ab: CONTEXT Previous research suggests that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) journals publish few clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses and a high proportion of positive articles.OBJECTIVE This study describes the content of major CAM journals in 2005 and compares key findings with secondary data from previous years.DESIGN PubMed-indexed CAM journals publishing in 2005 were identified using the search term '(alternative OR complementary) AND medicine.' Review journals were excluded. All 2005 issues of the included journals were obtained and articles read. Articles were coded according to predefined criteria regarding the type of publication, area of CAM, and whether the outcome was positive, negative, or open. For comparison purposes, secondary data from 1995 and 2000 were obtained from previous research.RESULTS Six journals publishing in 2005 (363 articles) were coded. Two datasets were produced, one excluding and one including recently established journals (2005a and 2005b, respectively). Proportionally fewer articles were clinical trials in 2005 (2005a=22.1%; 2005b=18.5%) than in 2000 (22.7%) and 1995 (27.7%). More than 50% of the 2005 articles were positive (2005a=51.1%; 2005b=50.7%), compared with 55.9% in 1995 and 43.5% in 2000.CONCLUSIONS There is an apparent shift away from effectiveness research in CAM journals. This requires further investigation, and comparisons with other journals are needed. The large proportion of positive articles published in CAM journals appears to not adequately reflect the best available effectiveness evidence. This has implications for those using CAM journals as their main source of information in this area.
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    language: English
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