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Vessel-sparing Excision and Primary Anastomosis
Published on: January 7, 2019
Interpretation of composite endpoints in urology: an analysis of citation quality
Frederik M Jacobsen1, Klara Kvorning Ternov1, Alexander B Nolsøe1
1Department of Urology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Objective:
To investigate how urological studies using composite endpoints as the primary outcome were cited.
Materials And Methods:
In this quality analysis of citations, three randomized clinical trials each investigating oncological and non-oncological urology were selected for citation analysis based on pre-defined criteria. In total, 531 papers citing the selected studies were reviewed; citations were evaluated based on whether they correctly referred to the composite endpoint and if singleton endpoints were defined and/or discussed.
Results:
Among the citations, 223/531 (42%) referred to the composite endpoint, of which 217/223 (97.3%) correctly cited the composite endpoint. However, only 91/217 (41.9%) defined and/or discussed the singleton endpoints of the composite endpoint. The lack of a validated instrument for citation analysis was a limitation of this study. Meanwhile, the main strength is the large number of individually analyzed citations.
Conclusions:
The composite endpoints of urological randomized clinical trials are generally cited without referring to the composite endpoint; when cited, the composite endpoints are described correctly. However, in most cases, without defining or discussing the singleton endpoints.
