Publication Rates and Patterns of Registered Glaucoma Trials

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology and Clinical Research
• Biomedical Data Science
• Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

• Glaucoma research relies on the timely publication of registered clinical trials for evidence-based practice.
• Understanding publication patterns is crucial for assessing the completeness of the scientific literature.
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandates reporting periods for trial results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the publication rates and patterns of glaucoma clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.
• To identify factors associated with the publication of glaucoma trial results.
• To assess compliance with mandated reporting timelines and publication delays.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional analysis of all registered glaucoma trials from ClinicalTrials.gov (queried August 2024).
• Extracted study characteristics and time from study start to primary completion.
• Verified publication status using PubMed.gov, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar.

Main Results:

• Of 969 registered glaucoma trials, 53% were published, and only 23% met the FDA's 12-24 month reporting period.
• A significant publication delay of approximately 34 months was observed from study completion to publication.
• Non-US-based and non-industry-sponsored trials showed higher publication likelihood; interventional trials were more likely to be published than observational ones.

Conclusions:

• Less than half of registered glaucoma trials are published, with poor adherence to FDA reporting timelines.
• A substantial delay exists between trial completion and publication, potentially indicating information dissemination bias.
• Further investigation into barriers and facilitators of timely glaucoma trial publication is warranted.