Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 26, 2026

Impact Assessment of Repeated Exposure of Organotypic 3D Bronchial and Nasal Tissue Culture Models to Whole Cigarette Smoke
Published on: February 12, 2015
Publication bias and public health policy on environmental tobacco smoke
L A Bero1, S A Glantz, D Rennie
1Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California-San Francisco 94109.
Objective:
To examine the tobacco industry's claim that publication bias against negative studies invalidates the risk assessment of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency and other reviews of the health effects of ETS.
Design:
Determination of the number of published original research articles that tested the hypothesis that ETS exposure is associated with adverse health effects and that reported statistically significant ("positive") or nonsignificant ("negative") results; the number of articles that concluded that ETS is a health risk; and unpublished studies on the effects of ETS on health.
Participants:
Articles identified by a computerized search of the medical literature supplemented with material obtained from the tobacco industry and hand searching. Articles were classified as peer-reviewed journal articles or articles from sponsored symposia.
Main Outcome Measure:
The statistical significance of results reported in the article and whether or not the article concluded that ETS exposure is a health risk.
Results:
More symposium articles than journal articles were reviews (46% vs 6%; P = .0001). More original journal articles than original symposium articles reported the use of statistical tests (96% vs 54%; P = .0001). Of articles with statistical analyses, similar proportions of journal articles and symposium articles reported statistically significant results (57% vs 47%; P = .329). The conclusions of 80% of the original journal articles were positive, compared with 51% of the original symposium articles (P = .006).
Conclusions:
There is no publication bias against statistically nonsignificant results on ETS in the peer-reviewed literature. The high proportion of articles in symposia that reach the conclusion that ETS is not harmful primarily results from the inclusion of review articles.
More Related Videos
09:25Methods to Evaluate Cytotoxicity and Immunosuppression of Combustible Tobacco Product Preparations
Published on: January 10, 2015
06:39Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements
Published on: August 28, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Observational Studies
There are three types of observational studies – Prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional.
Prospective Study
Prospective studies, also known as longitudinal or cohort studies, are carried out by collecting future data from groups sharing similar characteristics. One example of...
Causality in Epidemiology
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Statistical Methods for Analyzing Epidemiological Data
Lifestyle Factors and Health
Benefits of Physical Activity
Physical activity, whether through structured exercise or casual activities like walking, biking, or dancing, is a cornerstone of a...
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques IV