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  1. Article ; Online: Messaging in Biological Psychiatry: Misrepresentations, Their Causes, and Potential Consequences.

    Dumas-Mallet, Estelle / Gonon, Francois

    Harvard review of psychiatry

    2020  Volume 28, Issue 6, Page(s) 395–403

    Abstract: Most experts in the field of psychiatry recognize that neuroscience advances have yet to be translated into clinical practice. The main message delivered to laypeople, however, is that mental disorders are brain diseases cured by scientifically designed ... ...

    Abstract Most experts in the field of psychiatry recognize that neuroscience advances have yet to be translated into clinical practice. The main message delivered to laypeople, however, is that mental disorders are brain diseases cured by scientifically designed medications. Here we describe how this misleading message is generated. We summarize the academic studies describing how biomedical observations are often misrepresented in the scientific literature through various forms of data embellishment, publication biases favoring initial and positive studies, improper interpretations, and exaggerated conclusions. These misrepresentations also affect biological psychiatry and are spread through mass media documents. Exacerbated competition, hyperspecialization, and the need to obtain funding for research projects might drive scientists to misrepresent their findings. Moreover, journalists are unaware that initial studies, even when positive and promising, are inherently uncertain. Journalists preferentially cover them and almost never inform the public when those studies are disconfirmed by subsequent research. This explains why reductionist theories about mental health often persist in mass media even though the scientific claims that have been put forward to support them have long been contradicted. These misrepresentations affect the care of patients. Indeed, studies show that a neuro-essentialist conceptualization of mental disorders negatively affects several aspects of stigmatization, reduces the chances of patients' healing, and overshadows psychotherapeutic and social approaches that have been found effective in alleviating mental suffering. Public information about mental health should avoid these reporting biases and give equal consideration to the biological, psychological, and social aspects of mental health.
    MeSH term(s) Biological Psychiatry/standards ; Biological Psychiatry/trends ; Communications Media ; Humans ; Mental Health/standards ; Mental Health/trends ; Publications/standards ; Social Stigma ; Stereotyping
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-11-06
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Review
    ZDB-ID 1174775-4
    ISSN 1465-7309 ; 1067-3229
    ISSN (online) 1465-7309
    ISSN 1067-3229
    DOI 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000276
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  2. Article ; Online: Le mésusage des citations et ses conséquences en médecine.

    Dumas-Mallet, Estelle / Boraud, Thomas / Gonon, François

    Medecine sciences : M/S

    2021  Volume 37, Issue 11, Page(s) 1035–1041

    Abstract: In order to effectively contribute to scientific knowledge, biomedical observations have to be validated and debated by scientists in the relevant field. Along this debate that mainly takes place in the scientific literature, citation of previous studies ...

    Title translation Citation misuse and its effects on public health.
    Abstract In order to effectively contribute to scientific knowledge, biomedical observations have to be validated and debated by scientists in the relevant field. Along this debate that mainly takes place in the scientific literature, citation of previous studies plays a major role. However, only a few academic studies have quantitatively evaluated the suitability and accuracy of scientific citations. Here we review these academic studies. Two types of misuse have been pointed out: Citation bias and citation distortion. First, scientific citations favor positive results and those supporting authors' conclusion. Second, many statements linked to a reference actually misrepresent the referenced findings. About 10% of all citations in biomedicine are strongly inaccurate and misleading for the reader. Finally, we give two examples illustrating how some citation misuses do affect public health: The opioid crisis in the USA and the unjustified fostering of hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 treatment in France.
    MeSH term(s) COVID-19/drug therapy ; Disinformation ; Humans ; Opioid Epidemic ; Public Health ; Publication Bias ; Publications
    Language French
    Publishing date 2021-12-01
    Publishing country France
    Document type Journal Article ; Review
    ZDB-ID 632733-3
    ISSN 1958-5381 ; 0767-0974
    ISSN (online) 1958-5381
    ISSN 0767-0974
    DOI 10.1051/medsci/2021142
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  3. Article ; Online: Poor replication validity of biomedical association studies reported by newspapers.

    Dumas-Mallet, Estelle / Smith, Andy / Boraud, Thomas / Gonon, François

    PloS one

    2017  Volume 12, Issue 2, Page(s) e0172650

    Abstract: Objective: To investigate the replication validity of biomedical association studies covered by newspapers.: Methods: We used a database of 4723 primary studies included in 306 meta-analysis articles. These studies associated a risk factor with a ... ...

    Abstract Objective: To investigate the replication validity of biomedical association studies covered by newspapers.
    Methods: We used a database of 4723 primary studies included in 306 meta-analysis articles. These studies associated a risk factor with a disease in three biomedical domains, psychiatry, neurology and four somatic diseases. They were classified into a lifestyle category (e.g. smoking) and a non-lifestyle category (e.g. genetic risk). Using the database Dow Jones Factiva, we investigated the newspaper coverage of each study. Their replication validity was assessed using a comparison with their corresponding meta-analyses.
    Results: Among the 5029 articles of our database, 156 primary studies (of which 63 were lifestyle studies) and 5 meta-analysis articles were reported in 1561 newspaper articles. The percentage of covered studies and the number of newspaper articles per study strongly increased with the impact factor of the journal that published each scientific study. Newspapers almost equally covered initial (5/39 12.8%) and subsequent (58/600 9.7%) lifestyle studies. In contrast, initial non-lifestyle studies were covered more often (48/366 13.1%) than subsequent ones (45/3718 1.2%). Newspapers never covered initial studies reporting null findings and rarely reported subsequent null observations. Only 48.7% of the 156 studies reported by newspapers were confirmed by the corresponding meta-analyses. Initial non-lifestyle studies were less often confirmed (16/48) than subsequent ones (29/45) and than lifestyle studies (31/63). Psychiatric studies covered by newspapers were less often confirmed (10/38) than the neurological (26/41) or somatic (40/77) ones. This is correlated to an even larger coverage of initial studies in psychiatry. Whereas 234 newspaper articles covered the 35 initial studies that were later disconfirmed, only four press articles covered a subsequent null finding and mentioned the refutation of an initial claim.
    Conclusion: Journalists preferentially cover initial findings although they are often contradicted by meta-analyses and rarely inform the public when they are disconfirmed.
    MeSH term(s) Biomedical Research ; Causality ; Databases, Factual ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Information Dissemination ; Internal Medicine ; Journal Impact Factor ; Journalism/standards ; Life Style ; Meta-Analysis as Topic ; Neurology ; Newspapers as Topic ; Periodicals as Topic ; Psychiatry ; Reproducibility of Results ; Risk Factors
    Language English
    Publishing date 2017-02-21
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article
    ISSN 1932-6203
    ISSN (online) 1932-6203
    DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0172650
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  4. Article ; Online: Do newspapers preferentially cover biomedical studies involving national scientists?

    Dumas-Mallet, Estelle / Tajika, Aran / Smith, Andy / Boraud, Thomas / Furukawa, Toshiaki A / Gonon, François

    Public understanding of science (Bristol, England)

    2018  Volume 28, Issue 2, Page(s) 191–200

    Abstract: News value theory rates geographical proximity as an important factor in the process of issue selection by journalists. But does this apply to science journalism? Previous observational studies investigating whether newspapers preferentially cover ... ...

    Abstract News value theory rates geographical proximity as an important factor in the process of issue selection by journalists. But does this apply to science journalism? Previous observational studies investigating whether newspapers preferentially cover scientific studies involving national scientists have generated conflicting answers. Here we used a database of 123 biomedical studies, 113 of them involving at least one research team working in eight countries (Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States). We compiled all the newspaper articles covering these 123 studies and published in English, French, and Japanese languages. In all eight countries, we found that newspapers preferentially covered studies involving a national team. Moreover, these "national" studies on average gave rise to a larger number of newspaper articles than "foreign" studies. Finally, our study resolves the conflict with previous conclusions by providing an alternative interpretation of published observations.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2018-10-29
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 1421272-9
    ISSN 1361-6609 ; 0963-6625
    ISSN (online) 1361-6609
    ISSN 0963-6625
    DOI 10.1177/0963662518809804
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  5. Article: Low statistical power in biomedical science: a review of three human research domains.

    Dumas-Mallet, Estelle / Button, Katherine S / Boraud, Thomas / Gonon, Francois / Munafò, Marcus R

    Royal Society open science

    2017  Volume 4, Issue 2, Page(s) 160254

    Abstract: Studies with low statistical power increase the likelihood that a statistically significant finding represents a false positive result. We conducted a review of meta-analyses of studies investigating the association of biological, environmental or ... ...

    Abstract Studies with low statistical power increase the likelihood that a statistically significant finding represents a false positive result. We conducted a review of meta-analyses of studies investigating the association of biological, environmental or cognitive parameters with neurological, psychiatric and somatic diseases, excluding treatment studies, in order to estimate the average statistical power across these domains. Taking the effect size indicated by a meta-analysis as the best estimate of the likely true effect size, and assuming a threshold for declaring statistical significance of 5%, we found that approximately 50% of studies have statistical power in the 0-10% or 11-20% range, well below the minimum of 80% that is often considered conventional. Studies with low statistical power appear to be common in the biomedical sciences, at least in the specific subject areas captured by our search strategy. However, we also observe evidence that this depends in part on research methodology, with candidate gene studies showing very low average power and studies using cognitive/behavioural measures showing high average power. This warrants further investigation.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2017-02-01
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 2787755-3
    ISSN 2054-5703
    ISSN 2054-5703
    DOI 10.1098/rsos.160254
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  6. Article ; Online: Poor replication validity of biomedical association studies reported by newspapers.

    Estelle Dumas-Mallet / Andy Smith / Thomas Boraud / François Gonon

    PLoS ONE, Vol 12, Iss 2, p e

    2017  Volume 0172650

    Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To investigate the replication validity of biomedical association studies covered by newspapers. METHODS:We used a database of 4723 primary studies included in 306 meta-analysis articles. These studies associated a risk factor with a disease in ...

    Abstract OBJECTIVE:To investigate the replication validity of biomedical association studies covered by newspapers. METHODS:We used a database of 4723 primary studies included in 306 meta-analysis articles. These studies associated a risk factor with a disease in three biomedical domains, psychiatry, neurology and four somatic diseases. They were classified into a lifestyle category (e.g. smoking) and a non-lifestyle category (e.g. genetic risk). Using the database Dow Jones Factiva, we investigated the newspaper coverage of each study. Their replication validity was assessed using a comparison with their corresponding meta-analyses. RESULTS:Among the 5029 articles of our database, 156 primary studies (of which 63 were lifestyle studies) and 5 meta-analysis articles were reported in 1561 newspaper articles. The percentage of covered studies and the number of newspaper articles per study strongly increased with the impact factor of the journal that published each scientific study. Newspapers almost equally covered initial (5/39 12.8%) and subsequent (58/600 9.7%) lifestyle studies. In contrast, initial non-lifestyle studies were covered more often (48/366 13.1%) than subsequent ones (45/3718 1.2%). Newspapers never covered initial studies reporting null findings and rarely reported subsequent null observations. Only 48.7% of the 156 studies reported by newspapers were confirmed by the corresponding meta-analyses. Initial non-lifestyle studies were less often confirmed (16/48) than subsequent ones (29/45) and than lifestyle studies (31/63). Psychiatric studies covered by newspapers were less often confirmed (10/38) than the neurological (26/41) or somatic (40/77) ones. This is correlated to an even larger coverage of initial studies in psychiatry. Whereas 234 newspaper articles covered the 35 initial studies that were later disconfirmed, only four press articles covered a subsequent null finding and mentioned the refutation of an initial claim. CONCLUSION:Journalists preferentially cover initial findings although they are often contradicted by meta-analyses and rarely inform the public when they are disconfirmed.
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 001
    Language English
    Publishing date 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  7. Article ; Online: Replication Validity of Initial Association Studies: A Comparison between Psychiatry, Neurology and Four Somatic Diseases.

    Dumas-Mallet, Estelle / Button, Katherine / Boraud, Thomas / Munafo, Marcus / Gonon, François

    PloS one

    2016  Volume 11, Issue 6, Page(s) e0158064

    Abstract: Context: There are growing concerns about effect size inflation and replication validity of association studies, but few observational investigations have explored the extent of these problems.: Objective: Using meta-analyses to measure the ... ...

    Abstract Context: There are growing concerns about effect size inflation and replication validity of association studies, but few observational investigations have explored the extent of these problems.
    Objective: Using meta-analyses to measure the reliability of initial studies and explore whether this varies across biomedical domains and study types (cognitive/behavioral, brain imaging, genetic and "others").
    Methods: We analyzed 663 meta-analyses describing associations between markers or risk factors and 12 pathologies within three biomedical domains (psychiatry, neurology and four somatic diseases). We collected the effect size, sample size, publication year and Impact Factor of initial studies, largest studies (i.e., with the largest sample size) and the corresponding meta-analyses. Initial studies were considered as replicated if they were in nominal agreement with meta-analyses and if their effect size inflation was below 100%.
    Results: Nominal agreement between initial studies and meta-analyses regarding the presence of a significant effect was not better than chance in psychiatry, whereas it was somewhat better in neurology and somatic diseases. Whereas effect sizes reported by largest studies and meta-analyses were similar, most of those reported by initial studies were inflated. Among the 256 initial studies reporting a significant effect (p<0.05) and paired with significant meta-analyses, 97 effect sizes were inflated by more than 100%. Nominal agreement and effect size inflation varied with the biomedical domain and study type. Indeed, the replication rate of initial studies reporting a significant effect ranged from 6.3% for genetic studies in psychiatry to 86.4% for cognitive/behavioral studies. Comparison between eight subgroups shows that replication rate decreases with sample size and "true" effect size. We observed no evidence of association between replication rate and publication year or Impact Factor.
    Conclusion: The differences in reliability between biological psychiatry, neurology and somatic diseases suggest that there is room for improvement, at least in some subdomains.
    MeSH term(s) Biomarkers ; Disease Susceptibility/epidemiology ; Disease Susceptibility/etiology ; Humans ; Mental Disorders/epidemiology ; Mental Disorders/etiology ; Nervous System Diseases/epidemiology ; Nervous System Diseases/etiology ; Population Surveillance ; Publications ; ROC Curve ; Reproducibility of Results ; Risk Factors ; Sample Size
    Chemical Substances Biomarkers
    Language English
    Publishing date 2016-06-23
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article ; Meta-Analysis
    ISSN 1932-6203
    ISSN (online) 1932-6203
    DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0158064
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  8. Article ; Online: Low statistical power in biomedical science

    Estelle Dumas-Mallet / Katherine S. Button / Thomas Boraud / Francois Gonon / Marcus R. Munafò

    Royal Society Open Science, Vol 4, Iss

    a review of three human research domains

    2017  Volume 2

    Abstract: Studies with low statistical power increase the likelihood that a statistically significant finding represents a false positive result. We conducted a review of meta-analyses of studies investigating the association of biological, environmental or ... ...

    Abstract Studies with low statistical power increase the likelihood that a statistically significant finding represents a false positive result. We conducted a review of meta-analyses of studies investigating the association of biological, environmental or cognitive parameters with neurological, psychiatric and somatic diseases, excluding treatment studies, in order to estimate the average statistical power across these domains. Taking the effect size indicated by a meta-analysis as the best estimate of the likely true effect size, and assuming a threshold for declaring statistical significance of 5%, we found that approximately 50% of studies have statistical power in the 0–10% or 11–20% range, well below the minimum of 80% that is often considered conventional. Studies with low statistical power appear to be common in the biomedical sciences, at least in the specific subject areas captured by our search strategy. However, we also observe evidence that this depends in part on research methodology, with candidate gene studies showing very low average power and studies using cognitive/behavioural measures showing high average power. This warrants further investigation.
    Keywords statistical power ; reproducibility ; neurology ; psychiatry ; somatic disease ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 612
    Language English
    Publishing date 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher The Royal Society
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  9. Article ; Online: Replication Validity of Initial Association Studies

    Estelle Dumas-Mallet / Katherine Button / Thomas Boraud / Marcus Munafo / François Gonon

    PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 6, p e

    A Comparison between Psychiatry, Neurology and Four Somatic Diseases.

    2016  Volume 0158064

    Abstract: CONTEXT:There are growing concerns about effect size inflation and replication validity of association studies, but few observational investigations have explored the extent of these problems. OBJECTIVE:Using meta-analyses to measure the reliability of ... ...

    Abstract CONTEXT:There are growing concerns about effect size inflation and replication validity of association studies, but few observational investigations have explored the extent of these problems. OBJECTIVE:Using meta-analyses to measure the reliability of initial studies and explore whether this varies across biomedical domains and study types (cognitive/behavioral, brain imaging, genetic and "others"). METHODS:We analyzed 663 meta-analyses describing associations between markers or risk factors and 12 pathologies within three biomedical domains (psychiatry, neurology and four somatic diseases). We collected the effect size, sample size, publication year and Impact Factor of initial studies, largest studies (i.e., with the largest sample size) and the corresponding meta-analyses. Initial studies were considered as replicated if they were in nominal agreement with meta-analyses and if their effect size inflation was below 100%. RESULTS:Nominal agreement between initial studies and meta-analyses regarding the presence of a significant effect was not better than chance in psychiatry, whereas it was somewhat better in neurology and somatic diseases. Whereas effect sizes reported by largest studies and meta-analyses were similar, most of those reported by initial studies were inflated. Among the 256 initial studies reporting a significant effect (p<0.05) and paired with significant meta-analyses, 97 effect sizes were inflated by more than 100%. Nominal agreement and effect size inflation varied with the biomedical domain and study type. Indeed, the replication rate of initial studies reporting a significant effect ranged from 6.3% for genetic studies in psychiatry to 86.4% for cognitive/behavioral studies. Comparison between eight subgroups shows that replication rate decreases with sample size and "true" effect size. We observed no evidence of association between replication rate and publication year or Impact Factor. CONCLUSION:The differences in reliability between biological psychiatry, neurology and somatic ...
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 150
    Language English
    Publishing date 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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