Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Understanding study labels in dog and cat research
By Sargeant, J M et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2017·University of Guelph, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: What's in a Name? The Incorrect Use of Case Series as a Study Design Label in Studies Involving Dogs and Cats.
Plain-English summary
This study looked at how veterinary research papers involving dogs and cats are labeled, specifically focusing on those called "case series." Researchers found that many of these papers were actually different types of studies, like descriptive cohort studies, which track a group of animals over time. Out of 100 studies examined, only 16 were true case series, while the rest were other types of research. Additionally, nearly half of the studies that were labeled as case series made claims about treatment effectiveness without proper analysis. The authors suggest that it's important for researchers and editors to accurately label studies to help everyone understand their findings better.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Study design labels are used to identify relevant literature to address specific clinical and research questions and to aid in evaluating the evidentiary value of research. Evidence from the human healthcare literature indicates that the label "case series" may be used inconsistently and inappropriately. OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to determine the proportion of studies in the canine and feline veterinary literature labeled as case series that actually corresponded to descriptive cohort studies, population-based cohort studies, or other study designs. Our secondary objective was to identify the proportion of case series in which potentially inappropriate inferential statements were made. DESIGN: Descriptive evaluation of published literature. PARTICIPANTS: One-hundred published studies (from 19 journals) labeled as case series. METHODS: Studies were identified by a structured literature search, with random selection of 100 studies from the relevant citations. Two reviewers independently characterized each study, with disagreements resolved by consensus. RESULTS: Of the 100 studies, 16 were case series. The remaining studies were descriptive cohort studies (35), population-based cohort studies (36), or other observational or experimental study designs (13). Almost half (48.8%) of the case series or descriptive cohort studies, with no control group and no formal statistical analysis, included inferential statements about the efficacy of treatment or statistical significance of potential risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Authors, peer-reviewers, and editors should carefully consider the design elements of a study to accurately identify and label the study design. Doing so will facilitate an understanding of the evidentiary value of the results.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28544149/