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Onychomycosis: quality of studies
Aditya K Gupta1, Jennifer E Ryder, Robyn Bluhm
1Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Science Center (Sunnybrook Site) and the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. agupta@execulink.com
Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery
|July 25, 2003
Summary
This study evaluated clinical trials on oral antifungal treatments for onychomycosis (fungal nail infection). Many published studies did not meet high-quality research criteria, impacting treatment evidence.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Clinical Research Methodology
Background:
- Onychomycosis is a common fungal nail infection.
- Effective treatment relies on high-quality clinical trial data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the quality of published clinical trials on oral antifungal agents for onychomycosis.
- To determine if higher-quality studies receive more citations.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search identified 45 clinical trials.
- Two independent reviewers assessed study quality using predefined criteria (e.g., randomization, blinding, sample size).
- Citation counts were analyzed in relation to study quality.
Main Results:
- 27 out of 45 studies (60%) were rated as high-quality (score >= 11/20).
- High inter-rater reliability was achieved (correlation coefficient 0.997).
- High-quality studies were cited significantly more often than lower-quality studies (P=0.03).
Conclusions:
- The developed scale reliably assesses the quality of onychomycosis research.
- A significant proportion of published onychomycosis treatment studies (18/45) do not meet high-quality standards.
- Study quality appears to influence citation frequency, suggesting impact on scientific dissemination.