Press Releases by Academic Medical Centers: Not So Academic?

Steven Woloshin · Lisa M. Schwartz · Samuel L. Casella · Abigail T. Kennedy · Robin J. Larson

108 citations0/0 files storedAnnals of Internal Medicine

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Academic Publishing and Open Access Academic Writing and Publishing Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The news media are often criticized for exaggerated coverage of weak science. Press releases, a source of information for many journalists, might be a source of those exaggerations. OBJECTIVE: To characterize research press releases from academic medical centers. DESIGN: Content analysis. SETTING: Press releases from 10 medical centers at each extreme of U.S. News & World Report's rankings for medical research. MEASUREMENTS: Press release quality. RESULTS: Academic medical centers issued a mean of 49 press releases annually. Among 200 randomly selected releases analyzed in detail, 87 (44%) promoted animal or laboratory research, of which 64 (74%) explicitly claimed relevance to human health. Among 95 releases about primary human research, 22 (23%) omitted study size and 32 (34%) failed to quantify results. Among all 113 releases about human research, few (17%) promoted studies with the strongest designs (randomized trials or meta-analyses). Forty percent reported on the most limited human studies--those with uncontrolled interventions, small samples (<30 participants), surrogate primary outcomes, or unpublished data--yet 58% lacked the relevant cautions. LIMITATION: The effects of press release quality on media coverage were not directly assessed. CONCLUSION: Press releases from academic medical centers often promote research that has uncertain relevance to human health and do not provide key facts or acknowledge important limitations. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Cancer Institute.

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