scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 on the clinical trial

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251410
Author(s):  
Zhimin Chen ◽  
Liran Chen ◽  
Huafang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Remote Monitoring ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Trial Staff ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Express Delivery

The objective of this study was to explore the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic on ongoing and upcoming drug clinical trials. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with clinical trial staff and clinical trial subjects were surveyed by questionnaire in this study. The results of interviews and questionnaire showed that coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to many changes in the implementation of drug clinical trials, including: a variety of meetings being held online webinars using various platforms, telemedicine and follow-up by video, A large number of deviations from protocol and losses of follow-up, delivery of clinical trial drugs by express, additional workload caused by screening for coronavirus, and anxiety of subjects. These results suggest that the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak has hindered the progress and damaged the quality of clinical trials. The online meeting, remote follow-up, express delivery of drugs and remote monitoring in the epidemic environment can ensure the progress of clinical trials to a certain extent, but they cannot fully guarantee the quality as before.

scholarly journals Minimizing the Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic on Oncology Clinical Trials: Retrospective Study of Beijing Cancer Hospital (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiying Fu ◽  
Min Jiang ◽  
Kun Wang ◽  
Jian Li
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Disease Progression ◽  
Remote Monitoring ◽  
Management Model ◽  
Remote Management ◽  
Oncology Clinical Trials ◽  
Protocol Compliance ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND In view of repeated COVID-19 outbreaks in most countries, clinical trials will continue to be conducted under outbreak prevention and control measures for the next few years. It is very significant to explore an optimal clinical trial management model during the outbreak period to provide reference and insight for other clinical trial centers worldwide. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore the management strategies used to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on oncology clinical trials. METHODS We implemented a remote management model to maintain clinical trials conducted at Beijing Cancer Hospital, which realized remote project approval, remote initiation, remote visits, remote administration and remote monitoring to get through two COVID-19 outbreaks in the capital city from February to April and June to July 2020. The effectiveness of measures was evaluated as differences in rates of protocol compliance, participants lost to follow-up, participant withdrawal, disease progression, participant mortality, and detection of monitoring problems. RESULTS During the late of the first outbreak, modifications were made in trial processing, participant management and quality control, which allowed the hospital to ensure the smooth conduct of 572 trials, with a protocol compliance rate of 85.24% for 3718 participants across both outbreaks. No COVID-19 infections were recorded among participants or trial staff, and no major procedural errors occurred between February and July 2020. These measures led to significantly higher rates of protocol compliance and significantly lower rates of loss to follow-up or withdrawal after the second outbreak than after the first, without affecting rates of disease progression or mortality. The hospital provided trial sponsors with a remote monitoring system in a timely manner, and 3820 trial issues were identified. CONCLUSIONS When public health emergencies occur, an optimal clinical trial model combining on-site and remote management could guarantee the health care and treatment needs of clinical trial participants, in which remote management plays a key role.

scholarly journals Methodological Characteristics of Clinical Trials: Impact of Mandatory Trial Registration

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 131-141
Author(s):  
Ashish Kumar Kakkar ◽  
Biswa Mohan Padhy ◽  
Sudhir Chandra Sarangi ◽  
Yogendra Kumar Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Quality Characteristics ◽  
Allocation Concealment ◽  
Trial Registration ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Study Protocols ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: Numerous studies across multiple specialties have evaluated the impact of trial registration on quality of study reports and found significant improvements over several domains. However, the impact of mandatory trial registration on the quality of clinical trial protocols remains hitherto unexplored. Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study of clinical trial applications submitted to drug regulatory authority of India for initial review with the objective of comparing methodological characteristics of their protocols. Since trial registration was made mandatory in the country in June 2009, we selected two study periods as between January 2007 to May 2009 (Period I) and July 2009 to December 2011 (Period II). Seventy-five protocols were randomly selected using a computer-generated list for each study period, making a total of 150 protocols. Data on twelve key methodological characteristics were collected including clearly defined primary outcomes, randomization, blinding, use of control group, statistical methods, handling of withdrawals amongst others. Results: More than 3/4th of the trial applications in the two study periods were for new chemical entities and nearly 90% were pharmaceutical industry sponsored studies. Comparing the period before and after implementation of mandatory trial registration, description of clearly defined trial outcomes improved from nearly 42% to 80% (p<0.001), sample size justifications increased from 38% to 70% (p<0.001) and use of allocation concealment improved from 24% to 49% (p=0.001). Marked improvement was also noted for blinding, description of statistical methods and handling of withdrawals and dropouts. Remaining characteristics did not change significantly between the two study periods. The mean cumulative scores for the study protocols improved significantly from 7± 0.296 in the first period to 8.93± 0.346 (p<0.001) in the second period. Conclusions: Our study found a significant improvement in the methodological quality characteristics of the protocols particularly in elements related to minimization of bias and statistical methods, which could be attributed to mandatory trial registration. Overall, the significant improvement was limited to global clinical trials, and room for improvement was noted for two quality characteristics – proportion of randomized studies and trials adequately describing the generation of allocation sequence.

Evaluating the impact of a trial in breast cancer tumor markers: A value of research analysis.

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e16524-e16524
Author(s):  
Rahber Thariani ◽  
David K Blough ◽  
William Barlow ◽  
Norah Lynn Henry ◽  
Julie Gralow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Tumor Marker ◽  
Tumor Markers ◽  
Societal Value ◽  
Cancer Tumor ◽  
The Impact

e16524 Background: Despite not being recommended by clinical guidelines, the tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA)15-3, and CA 27.29 are used by some clinicians to screen for increased risk of breast cancer recurrence. Although additional research may be warranted to evaluate the benefits and risks of breast cancer tumor marker tests, clinical trials would likely need to involve thousands of women and would take many years to complete. We conducted an analysis to assess the societal value of a prospective randomized clinical trial (RCT) for breast tumor marker testing in routine follow-up of high-risk, stage II-III breast cancer survivors Methods: We used value of information techniques to assess the benefits of reducing uncertainty of using breast cancer tumor markers. We developed a decision-analytic model of biomarker testing in addition to standard surveillance at follow-up appointments every 3-6 months for five years. Expected value of sample information (EVSI) was assessed over a range of trial sizes and assumptions. Results: The overall value of research for an RCT involving 9,000 women was $166 million (EVSI). The value of improved information characterizing the survival impact of tumor markers was $81 million, quality-of-life $38 million, and test performance $95 million. Conclusions: Our analysis indicates that substantial societal value may be gained by conducting a clinical trial evaluating the use of breast cancer tumor markers. The most important aspects of the trial in our analysis were information gained on survival improvements as well as quality-of-life parameters associated with testing and test sensitivity and specificity. Our analysis indicates that smaller randomized trials, as well as adding quality of life instruments to existing trials, retrospective, and observational trials can also generate valuable and relevant information.

scholarly journals Evaluating the efficacy of an Advanced Care Planning Program for Health Decisions in patients with advanced heart failure: protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Sánchez ◽  
Carlos Guijarro ◽  
María Velasco ◽  
María Jesús Vicente ◽  
Miguel Galán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Advanced Heart Failure ◽  
Care Planning ◽  
Advanced Care Planning ◽  
Health Decisions ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background An Advanced Care Planning (ACP) program of health decisions is the result of a process of reflection and relationship-building between the patient, their relatives and health professionals. It is based on respect for patients’ autonomy, involving them in making decisions about their disease in a way that is shared between the medical team, the patient and their relatives. Up until now, the efficacy of an ACP has not been measured in the existing literature, and therefore it is unknown if these programs reach their goal. The main objective of our study is to evaluate the efficacy of an ACP program for decision-making in patients with advanced heart failure (HF) in comparison to usual follow up and care. This objective will be evaluated by the Patient Activation Measure test, which measures the participation and self-management of the patient in decision-making. Secondary objectives: to evaluate the effect of the program on quality of life, to know if the patients wishes expressed through the ACP program are fulfilled, to measure the impact of the program on patients’ caregivers, to determine the satisfaction of patients included in the program and to evaluate the effect on quality of death. Methods Randomized multicentre clinical trial at four hospitals in Madrid. Once they are included in the study, patients’ allocation to groups (control vs intervention) will be made by alternative sampling. ACP will be applied to the intervention group, whereas in the Control Group usual follow-up will be carried out in HF units. All patients will fulfil questionnaires and tests related to the objectives of the study again after a 12-month follow-up period in order to gauge the effect of ACP in patients with advanced HF. Discussion The characteristics of patients with advanced HF make them a model for designing ACP programs, given the high prevalence of this disease, the progressive increase in its incidence and it’s clinical characteristics. Until now, the efficacy of this type of program has not been measured, so this Clinical Trial can provide relevant data for future ACP projects. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04424680. Registered 9 June 2020. Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04424680?term=NCT04424680&draw=2&rank=1.

scholarly journals A Web-Based Telemanagement System for Patients With Complex Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial (Preprint)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam Aguas ◽  
Javier del Hoyo ◽  
Raquel Faubel ◽  
Diana Mu�oz ◽  
David Dom�nguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Disease Activity ◽  
Remote Monitoring ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel ◽  
Web Platform

BACKGROUND Telemedicine has been successfully used to provide inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients with health care services remotely via the implementation of information and communications technology, which uses safe and feasible apps that have been well accepted by patients in remission. However, the design of telemedicine apps in this setting involves difficulties that hinder the adherence of patients to the follow-up plans and the efficacy of these systems to improve disease activity and quality of life. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the development of a Web platform, Telemonitoring of Crohn Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (TECCU), for remote monitoring of patients with complex IBD and the design of a clinical trial involving IBD patients who received standard care (G_Control), nurse-assisted telephone care (G_NT), or care based on distance monitoring (G_TECCU). METHODS We describe the development of a remote monitoring system and the difficulties encountered in designing the platform. A 3-arm randomized controlled trial was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of this Web platform in disease management compared with G_NT and G_Control. RESULTS According to the schedules established for the medical treatment initiated (corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, or biological agents), a total of 63 patients (21 patients from each group) answered periodic questionnaires regarding disease activity, quality of life, therapeutic adherence, adverse effects, satisfaction, work productivity, and social activities. Blood and stool analyses (fecal calprotectin) were performed periodically. On the basis of the results of these tests in G_TECCU, alerts were generated in a Web platform with adapted action plans, including changes in medication and frequency of follow-up. The main issues found were the development of an easy-to-use Web platform, the selection of validated clinical scores and objective biomarkers for remote monitoring, and the design of a clinical trial to compare the 3 main follow-up methods evaluated to date in IBD. CONCLUSIONS The development of a Web-based remote management program for safe and adequate control of IBD proved challenging. The results of this clinical trial will advance knowledge regarding the effectiveness of TECCU Web platform for improvement of disease activity, quality of life, and use of health care resources in complex IBD patients. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02943538; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02943538 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6y4DQdmt8) INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPOR DERR1-10.2196/9639

scholarly journals Analysis on the influence of the proportion and growth rate of different categories of drug clinical trial research funds on quality improvement in China recently six years

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liran Chen ◽  
Huafang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Drug Trials ◽  
Clinical Drug Trials ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Self Examination ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Clinical Drug

Abstract Background: The China food and drug administration (CFDA) issued the Announcement of Self-examination and Inspection of Clinical Drug Trial Data on July 22, 2015. Great changes have taken place since the launch of the most stringent drug registration self-examination and inspection in history; the cost of clinical trials is one of the important changes. Methods: The paper compares the changes in the cost of clinical drug trials on both the number and the structure of the trials 3 years before and 3 years after self-examination and inspection were initiated by the CFDA,analyzes the impact on the cost of the clinical research coordinator ( CRC ), the labor service of researchers, audit companies, institutional drug management and quality control on the quality improvement of clinical drug trials. Conclusions: According to the article, the emergence and increase in most clinical trial costs are conducive to the quality enhancement of clinical drug trials,However, the emergence and continued increase of CRC costs can improve the quality of clinical drug trials in some ways and hinder it in others..To improve the quality of clinical trials, China must regulate the booming site management organization ( SMO ) market and actively formulate industry standards and qualification certifications for CRCs.

scholarly journals Evaluation of International Working Group 2006 Response Criteria in Patients with Higher-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes (HR-MDS) Treated with Hypomethylating Agent Monotherapy in the Frontline Setting

Blood ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 138 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 3701-3701
Author(s):  
Jan Philipp Bewersdorf ◽  
Wei Wei ◽  
Anna Jaiani ◽  
Prital Patel ◽  
Rajni Mehta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Overall Survival ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Myelodysplastic Syndromes ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Response Criteria ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Support Research

Abstract Introduction: Monotherapy with hypomethylating agents (HMA) remains the standard of care for patients (pts) with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Response in MDS is based on the modified International Working Group (IWG) 2006 criteria. Prior studies focusing on unselected MDS pts showed that achieving a complete remission (CR) was associated with favorable overall survival (OS). However, the association of other outcomes with OS was less clear and only 20% of HMA-treated MDS pts achieve a CR. For example, pts who achieved &lt;5% bone marrow (BM) blasts are currently classified as marrow CR (mCR), which has not been associated with OS improvement. Therefore, interpreting the significance of mCR reported in various clinical trials is challenging. Clinically meaningful reduction in bleeding or infectious complications can occur at improvements in absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and platelet counts that do not meet the current thresholds used for CR (ANC ≥1.0 × 10 9/L, platelets ≥100 × 10 9/L, and Hb &gt;11 g/dL). To avoid missing clinically meaningful benefits when studying new drugs in clinical trials, a clearly defined response criterion that is less stringent than CR but still captures clinically meaningful hematologic improvement (HI) is needed. Here we sought to evaluate the impact of current IWG 2006 response criteria as well as CRh on OS of pts with HR-MDS treated with frontline HMA monotherapy. Methods: We included all adult (≥18 years) MDS pts treated with frontline HMA (azacitidine [AZA], decitabine [DEC], or ASTX727) monotherapy between 1/1/2012 and 12/31/2020 at Yale University. We decided to use HMA monotherapy as it is the standard care for HR-MDS and to minimize the impact of therapy choice confounding the association of achieved response with OS. Pts were excluded if they received prior treatments for MDS aside from erythropoiesis-stimulating agents and if no baseline with at least one follow-up BM study were available for response assessment. We collected patient and disease characteristics (transfusion burden, IPSS/IPSS-R score, cytogenetics, molecular studies) at baseline. Best responses were assessed based on IWG 2006 criteria for MDS. We defined CRh as &lt;5% BM blasts, platelets ≥50 × 10 9/L, ANC ≥0.5 × 10 9/L and no peripheral blood blasts. We followed pts until death or last follow-up and recorded dates of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) if applicable. Date of data cut-off for survival status was 5/31/2021. We performed Kaplan-Meier analysis to estimate the duration of overall survival and we used log rank test to test the difference in OS between subgroups of pts. Multiple comparisons were adjusted using the Bonferroni method. Results: A total of 100 pts was included in this analysis (Table 1). Median age was 68 years (yrs; range, 23 - 86), 60% were males, and 79% and 18% of pts received AZA and DEC, respectively. Median number of HMA cycles was 6 (interquartile range [IQR]: 4-10), and 33 pts (33%) underwent HCT. During follow-up, 46 pts (48%) progressed to AML. At a median follow-up of 1.5 yrs (IQR: 0.9 - 2.3 yrs), median OS for the entire pt cohort was 1.9 yrs (Figure 1). OS by response category is shown in Table 2. Median OS was not reached for patients who achieved a CR (95% CI: not reached [NR] - NR) as compared to 1.9 yrs (95% CI: 1.5 yrs - NR) and 2.0 yrs (95% CI: 1.2 yrs - NR) among pts with mCR + HI and mCR without HI, respectively. Median OS among patients with stable disease (SD) was similar (2.0 yrs [95% CI: 1.5 yrs - NR]). Finally, we explored the prognostic value of CRh and found a median OS of 1.9 yrs (95% CI: 1.5 yrs - NR), which appeared comparable to mCR +/- HI or SD. Similar results were found with censoring at time of HCT (Figure 2). Discussion: In this retrospective analysis of MDS pts treated with HMA monotherapy in the frontline setting, achieving CR as best response was associated with improved OS compared with mCR +/- HI and SD. However, as the numbers were small these results should be interpreted with caution, and other clinically relevant outcomes such as freedom of transfusion, infectious or bleeding complications, and patient-reported outcomes were not captured in the current analysis. Our results also apply only to MDS pts treated with HMA monotherapy in the frontline setting. The prognostic implications of CRh need to be evaluated in larger patient cohorts. To overcome these limitations, we are currently in the process of expanding the study to a much larger multi-center, international analysis. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Neparidze: Eidos Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GlaxoSmithKline: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding. Shallis: Curis: Divested equity in a private or publicly-traded company in the past 24 months. Podoltsev: PharmaEssentia: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; CTI BioPharma: Honoraria; Blueprint Medicines: Honoraria; Incyte: Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squib: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria. Brunner: GSK: Research Funding; Aprea: Research Funding; Keros Therapeutics: Consultancy; Agios: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding; Acceleron: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding. Zeidan: AbbVie: Consultancy, Other: Clinical Trial Committees, Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy, Other: Clinical Trial Committees; Epizyme: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; BioCryst: Other: Clinical Trial Committees; Incyte: Consultancy, Research Funding; Boehringer Ingelheim: Consultancy, Research Funding; Cardiff Oncology: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Acceleron: Consultancy, Research Funding; Agios: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy, Other: Clinical Trial Committees, Travel support, Research Funding; Genentech: Consultancy; Jasper: Consultancy; ADC Therapeutics: Research Funding; Jazz: Consultancy; Astex: Research Funding; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy; Kura: Consultancy, Other: Clinical Trial Committees; Aprea: Consultancy, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Other: Clinical Trial Committees, Research Funding; Geron: Other: Clinical Trial Committees; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Pfizer: Other: Travel support, Research Funding; BeyondSpring: Consultancy; Ionis: Consultancy; Loxo Oncology: Consultancy, Other: Clinical Trial Committees; Janssen: Consultancy; Astellas: Consultancy.

scholarly journals Pens versus syringes to deliver insulin among elderly patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled clinical trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Vaz Machry ◽  
Gustavo Fonseca Cipriani ◽  
Henrique Umpierre Pedroso ◽  
Rafaela Ramos Nunes ◽  
Thayme Luisa Souza Pires ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Glycemic Control ◽  
Controlled Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trial Registration ◽  
Bolus Insulin ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a prevalent disease among elderly population. As the disease progresses, insulin may become necessary. The use of pens application seems to be more practical. However, the influence of this method on glycemic control needs to be defined in elderly people. Methods Randomized clinical trial comparing pens and syringes for insulin application among patients with type 2 DM over 60 years old and Glycated Hemoglobin > 8.5% at baseline. The follow-up was 24 weeks, with monthly medical visits to adjust the treatment. All patients received insulin NPH and, if necessary, insulin Regular. We assessed glycemic control, adherence to treatment, hypoglycemia occurrence, need for adjustment in treatment and impact on quality of life, Results We included 121 patients with mean age of 65.75 years. Sixty-one were randomized for pen group (PG) and 60 patients for syringe group (SG). At baseline, mean HbA1c was 10.34 ± 1.66% and 9.90 ± 1.25% (p = 0.103) in PG and SG respectively. Mean HbA1c was 8.39 ± 1.28% in PG and 8.85 ± 1.74% in SG (p = 0.101) at 24 weeks. However, there was a more significant reduction in PG (− 1.94 ± 1.93% in PG and − 1.04 ± 1.46% in SG, p < 0.05) during follow-up. We found no difference in treatment adherence rates, hypoglycemia, greater need for insulin doses or oral medication, and progression to basal-bolus insulin scheme. We also found no difference in the impact of the disease on quality of life between groups. Conclusion Although we did not find any difference in the impact on quality of life, frequency of hypoglycemia or adherence, the PG showed a reduction in HbA1c higher in 24 weeks of follow-up. Clinical trial registration: NCT02517242

scholarly journals Professional medical writing support and the quality, ethics and timeliness of clinical trial reporting: a systematic review

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Obaro Evuarherhe ◽  
William Gattrell ◽  
Richard White ◽  
Christopher Charles Winchester
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Medical Writing ◽  
Quality Of Reporting ◽  
Medical Publication ◽  
Number Of Citations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Background: Many authors choose to work with professional medical writers when reporting the results of clinical trials. We conducted a systematic review to examine the relationship between professional medical writing support (PMWS) and the quality, ethics and timeliness of publications reporting clinical trials. Methods: Using terms related to medical writer and observational study, we searched MEDLINE and Embase (no date limits), as well as abstracts and posters from meetings of the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP; 2014-2017). We also hand-searched the journals Medical Writing and The Write Stuff (2014-2017), and the bibliographies of studies identified in the electronic searches. We screened the results to identify studies that compared the quality, ethics and timeliness of clinical trial publications written with and without declared PMWS. Results: Our searches identified 97 potentially relevant studies, of which 89 were excluded during screening and full paper review. The remaining eight studies compared 849 publications with PMWS with 2073 articles developed without such support. In these eight studies, PMWS was shown to be associated with: increased adherence to Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines (in 3/3 studies in which this was assessed); publication in journals with an impact factor (one study); a higher quality of written English (one study); and a lower likelihood of reporting non-pre-specified outcomes (one study). PMWS was not associated with increased adherence to CONSORT for Abstracts guidelines (one study) or with the impact of published articles (mean number of citations per year, mean number of article views per year and Altmetric score; one study). In studies that assessed timeliness of publication, PMWS was associated with a reduced time from last patient visit in clinical trials to primary publication (one study), whereas time from submission to acceptance showed inconsistent results (two studies). Conclusions: This systematic review of eight observational studies suggests that PMWS increases the overall quality of reporting of clinical trials and may improve the timeliness of publication.

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