Qualidade de relato e análise de spin dos resumos de ensaios clínicos sobre eletroanalgesia na dor musculoesquelética

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze the quality of reporting and the presence of spin in abstracts of randomized clinical trials (RCT) involving the use of electroanalgesia in different musculoskeletal disorders. Materials and methods: This study was conducted according to the protocol previously registered and publicly available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/9tayk.) A search was performed in the PEDro database, using the strategy: “electrotherapy , heat and cold” for therapy, “pain” for the problem, “musculoskeletal” for subdiscipline, “clinical trial” for method and “2010” for publications from this year onwards. The identified articles were submitted for eligibility by two blind and independent researchers through the Rayyan. Inclusion criteria were: RCT using electrotherapy in patients with musculoskeletal pain, statistical comparison of two or more groups, having pain as one of the outcomes, published from 2010, and written in any language. Data extraction was performed by two evaluators, blindly and independently, using Google Forms. The information extracted was: general characteristics of the abstracts, quality of abstract reporting (CONSORT-A), reporting of outcomes in the abstract, reporting of the outcome pain in the abstracts, and spin analysis in the abstracts (7-item spin checklist). Results: A total of 173 abstracts were analyzed, which presented a mean risk of bias of 6.02±1.63 points on the PEDro Scale. Mean reporting quality was 5.1±2.4 out of 15 items in CONSORT-A. Most abstracts did not report whether there was a significant difference for the primary (51.4%) and secondary (63%) outcomes. About 25% of authors recommended the intervention for pain even without significant differences between the analyzed treatments. The presence of spin averaged 2.97±1.78 on a 7-point scale, using the 7-item checklist tool. About 93% of the abstracts contained at least one type of spin and the section with the most spin was the conclusion. Conclusion: RCT abstracts on electroanalgesia in musculoskeletal disorders presented poor reporting quality. The average presence of spin in the abstracts by the 7-item checklist tool was low to moderate, but almost all abstracts presented at least one type of spin, especially in the results section. In general, the authors recommend the use of the experimental intervention for pain even without significant differences between the interventions.