Weighted distributions offer a flexible approach that allows the potential to modify the selection function to incorporate other factors. Methods that adjust combined estimates should not be used to provide an alternative answer but to consider the robustness of the combined estimate to publication bias.

Objective To determine the relationship between decision to delivery interval and perinatal outcome in severe placental abruption. Design A case–control study. Setting Large inner city teaching hospital. Methods Retrospective case note review of pregnancies terminated following severe placental aburption and fetal bradycardia. One year paediatric follow up by case note review or postal questionnaire. The differences in outcome (death or cerebral palsy) were examined using non‐parametric and univariate analysis for the following time periods — times from onset of symptoms to delivery, onset of symptoms to admission, admission to delivery, onset bradycardia to delivery and decision to delivery interval. Main outcome measures Prenatal death or survival with cerebral palsy. Results Thirty‐three women with singleton pregnancies over 28 weeks of gestation, admitted with clinically overt placental abruption, where delivery was effected for fetal bradycardia. Eleven of the pregnancies had a poor outcome (cases), eight infants died and three surviving infants have cerebral palsy. Twenty‐two pregnancies had a good outcome (controls): survival with no developmental delay. No statistically significant relationship was found between maternal age, parity, gestation, or birthweight and a poor outcome. A statistically significant relationship between time from decision to delivery was identified (P= 0.02, Mann–Whitney U test). The results of a univariate logistic regression for this variable suggest that the odds ratio of a poor outcome for delivery at 20 minutes compared with 30 minutes is 0.44 (95% CI 0.22–0.86). Fifty‐five percent of infants were delivered within 20 minutes of the decision to deliver. Serious maternal morbidity was rare. Conclusion In this small study of severe placental abruption complicated by fetal bradycardia, a decision to delivery interval of 20 minutes or less was associated with substantially reduced neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Objectives. To determine (1) what proportion of abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) presented at international conferences on cystic fibrosis (CF) are published as full reports, (2) time to publication, and (3) factors that might delay or prevent publication. Methods At the end of 1995, the Cochrane CF Group's register of RCTs contained 199 abstracts describing 180 RCTs. Abstracts were identified by handsearching 44 abstract books of three international CF conferences over a 30‐year period. We searched the register for subsequent full reports of these RCTs and used survival analysis to investigate time to publication. Using the log‐rank test, we examined (1) whether there is a difference in time to publication between reports where the investigators concluded that the test treatment was as effective as or better than the control treatment, and reports where it was not, and (2) whether there is a difference in time to publication according to sample size. Results Thirty‐two percent of the 178 abstracts analyzed were subsequently published in full. Survival analysis indicated that the proportions published before 12 months, 2 years, and 5 years were 8.1%, 29%, and 40% respectively. No difference in time to publication was identified when the abstracts were stratified according to conclusions or sample size; no significant association (P > 0.05) existed between time to publication and both sample size and conclusions together. Conclusion Only a small proportion of abstracts of RCTs presented at international conferences on CF are followed by full publication, and usually only after several years. Therefore, many potentially valuable studies do not reach a wide audience. However, we found no consistent factors which might delay or prevent publication. Pediatr Pulmonol. 1998; 26:101–105. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

No abstract

No abstract