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Author contacts for retrieval of data for a meta-analysis on exercise and diet restriction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

Cheryl A. Gibson ,
Bruce Wayne Bailey ,
Michael J. Carper ,
James D. LeCheminant ,
Erik Paul Kirk ,
Guoyuan Huang ,
Katrina Drowatzky DuBose  and
Joseph E. Donnelly
Cheryl A. Gibson
Affiliation:
University of Kansas School of Medicine
Bruce Wayne Bailey
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts Boston
Michael J. Carper
Affiliation:
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
James D. LeCheminant
Affiliation:
Southern Illinois University
Erik Paul Kirk
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Guoyuan Huang
Affiliation:
University of Southern Indiana
Katrina Drowatzky DuBose
Affiliation:
East Carolina University
Joseph E. Donnelly
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
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Abstract

Objectives: The mode of contact and response levels of authors who had been asked to provide missing or incomplete data for a systematic review on diet and exercise interventions for weight loss was examined.

Methods: We contacted authors by electronic mail, letter, or both. Survival analyses were performed with the Kaplan–Meier method to determine differences in the proportion of responders over time among the different modes of contact and to determine whether response rates differed between authors from the United States and those from other countries. Logistic regression was used to determine whether the number of items requested and publication date influenced the likelihood of response.

Results: Two hundred forty-one (39.9 percent) studies had missing or incomplete data (e.g., sample size, age, caloric restriction, exercise amount, and so on). We were unable to locate ninety-five authors (39.4 percent). Of the remaining authors, forty-six authors (31.5 percent) responded to information requests. Time to respond differed by contact method (p<.05): e-mail (3 ± 3 days), letter (27 ± 30 days), and both (13 ±12 days). Response rates from U.S. authors did not differ from those of other countries.

Conclusions: Our study suggests poor success in the acquisition of essential information. Given considerable time and resources, weight loss studies require improved reporting standards to minimize the relatively unsuccessful attempt to contact authors for important and necessary information.

Keywords

Meta-analysisMissing dataSystematic review
Type
RESEARCH REPORTS
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , April 2006 , pp. 267 - 270
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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