Abstract
Study Design and Setting Reviews of neuraminidase inhibitors published during January 2005 to May 2013 were identified by searching PubMed. In a blinded evaluation, the reviews were classified as favorable if investigators agreed that they supported the use of neuraminidase inhibitors for prophylaxis or treatment of influenza. Reference lists were used to identify all unique citations to primary articles. Three classification methods were tested for their ability to predict favorable conclusions using only citation information.
Objectives To examine the use of supervised machine learning to identify biases in evidence selection and determine if citation information can predict favorable conclusions in reviews about neuraminidase inhibitors.
Results Citations to 4,574 articles were identified in 152 reviews of neuraminidase inhibitors, and 93 (61%) of these reviews were graded as favorable. Primary articles describing drug resistance were among the citations that were underrepresented in favorable reviews. The most accurate classifier predicted favorable conclusions with 96.2% accuracy, using citations to only 24 of 4,574 articles.
Conclusion Favorable conclusions in reviews about neuraminidase inhibitors can be predicted using only information about the articles they cite. The approach highlights how evidence exclusion shapes conclusions in reviews and provides a method to evaluate citation practices in a corpus of reviews.
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 87-93 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Clinical Epidemiology |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Citations alone were enough to predict favorable conclusions in reviews of neuraminidase inhibitors. / Zhou, Xujuan; Wang, Ying; Tsafnat, Guy; Coiera, Enrico; Bourgeois, Florence T.; Dunn, Adam G.
In: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Vol. 68, No. 1, 01.01.2015, p. 87-93.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Citations alone were enough to predict favorable conclusions in reviews of neuraminidase inhibitors
AU - Zhou, Xujuan
AU - Wang, Ying
AU - Tsafnat, Guy
AU - Coiera, Enrico
AU - Bourgeois, Florence T.
AU - Dunn, Adam G.
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - Study Design and Setting Reviews of neuraminidase inhibitors published during January 2005 to May 2013 were identified by searching PubMed. In a blinded evaluation, the reviews were classified as favorable if investigators agreed that they supported the use of neuraminidase inhibitors for prophylaxis or treatment of influenza. Reference lists were used to identify all unique citations to primary articles. Three classification methods were tested for their ability to predict favorable conclusions using only citation information.Objectives To examine the use of supervised machine learning to identify biases in evidence selection and determine if citation information can predict favorable conclusions in reviews about neuraminidase inhibitors.Results Citations to 4,574 articles were identified in 152 reviews of neuraminidase inhibitors, and 93 (61%) of these reviews were graded as favorable. Primary articles describing drug resistance were among the citations that were underrepresented in favorable reviews. The most accurate classifier predicted favorable conclusions with 96.2% accuracy, using citations to only 24 of 4,574 articles.Conclusion Favorable conclusions in reviews about neuraminidase inhibitors can be predicted using only information about the articles they cite. The approach highlights how evidence exclusion shapes conclusions in reviews and provides a method to evaluate citation practices in a corpus of reviews.
AB - Study Design and Setting Reviews of neuraminidase inhibitors published during January 2005 to May 2013 were identified by searching PubMed. In a blinded evaluation, the reviews were classified as favorable if investigators agreed that they supported the use of neuraminidase inhibitors for prophylaxis or treatment of influenza. Reference lists were used to identify all unique citations to primary articles. Three classification methods were tested for their ability to predict favorable conclusions using only citation information.Objectives To examine the use of supervised machine learning to identify biases in evidence selection and determine if citation information can predict favorable conclusions in reviews about neuraminidase inhibitors.Results Citations to 4,574 articles were identified in 152 reviews of neuraminidase inhibitors, and 93 (61%) of these reviews were graded as favorable. Primary articles describing drug resistance were among the citations that were underrepresented in favorable reviews. The most accurate classifier predicted favorable conclusions with 96.2% accuracy, using citations to only 24 of 4,574 articles.Conclusion Favorable conclusions in reviews about neuraminidase inhibitors can be predicted using only information about the articles they cite. The approach highlights how evidence exclusion shapes conclusions in reviews and provides a method to evaluate citation practices in a corpus of reviews.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84915749105&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.09.014
DO - 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.09.014
M3 - Article
VL - 68
SP - 87
EP - 93
JO - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
T2 - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
JF - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
SN - 0895-4356
IS - 1
ER -