Publication Fate and Determinants of Registered Clinical Trials Investigating Sensorineural Hearing Loss

To evaluate the publication proportion of completed clinical trials regarding sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) registered on ClinicalTrials.gov and identify factors associated with successful and timely publication.

Cross-sectional observational study.

ClinicalTrials.gov registry and peer-reviewed literature databases.

We identified completed clinical trials related to SNHL with completion dates before November 1, 2022. Trials were categorized by intervention type, sponsorship, phase, age group, results and location. Publication status was determined by searching ClinicalTrials.gov, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Multivariate logistic regression and survival analysis were used to analyze factors influencing publication likelihood and time-to-publication.

Of 250 completed SNHL trials, 31.2% were published. Multivariable logistic regression identified intervention type, results availability, and PI location as independent predictors of publication: device, behavioral, and other trials had significantly lower odds than drug trials, while reported results increased and US-based PI decreased publication odds. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses showed drug trials achieved significantly faster publication than device and other categories, with non-US PI location and results availability also predicting faster publication.

The publication rate of SNHL-related trials is lower than that of other otolaryngology subfields, with significant disparities observed across intervention types. Our findings indicate that there is substantial room for improvement in the publication of sensorineural hearing loss trials to further mitigate publication bias in this field.