Lisa M. Schwartz|Steven Woloshin|Ashley Andrews|Thérèse A. Stukel
Influence of medical journal press releases on the quality of associated newspaper coverage: retrospective cohort study
Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice|White River Junction VA Medical Center|Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice|White River Junction VA Medical Center|Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice|University of Toronto|Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
bobjectiveb determine whether quality press releases issued medical journals influence quality associated newspaper stories bdesign bretrospective cohort study medical journal press releases associated news stories bsettingb reviewed consecutive issues going backwards january 2009 five major medical journals iannals internal medicinei ibmji ijournal national cancer institutei ijamai inew england journal medicinei identify first 100 original research articles quantifiable outcomes generated newspaper coverage unique stories 100 words long identified 759 associated newspaper stories using lexis nexis factiva searches 68 journal press releases using eurekalert journal website searches two independent research assistants assessed quality journal articles press releases stratified random sample associated newspaper stories n343 using structured coding scheme presence specific quality measures basic study facts quantification main result harms limitations bmain outcome bproportion newspaper stories specific quality measures adjusted whether quality measure present journal articles abstract editor note bresultsb recorded median three newspaper stories per journal article range 172 343 stories analysed 71 reported articles medical journals issued press releases 9 stories quantified main result absolute risks information press release 53 press release relative risk 60 95 confidence interval 23 154 20 press release issued 22 083 61 133 39 stories reported research describing beneficial interventions 24 mentioned harms specifically declared harms harms mentioned press release 68 mentioned press release 28 11 74 36 press release issued 15 049 44 256 75 stories reported research important limitations 16 reported limitations limitations mentioned press release 48 mentioned press release 30 15 62 21 press release issued 13 050 36 bconclusionb high quality press releases issued medical journals seem make quality associated newspaper stories better whereas low quality press releases might make worse