Top 10 most read in October: trial enrolment, COIs, community care, and brown vs white rice associations with diabetes risk

Mixed rice
Image by pasrasaa from Pixabay

 

The number one spot in our top 10 monthly most read chart has been retained by Zemedikun and colleagues with their analysis of chronic conditions that are associated with periodontal disease. This paper has made a strong showing ever since it was first published. However, we also have four new entries into the top 10 most read during October. 

Community support

Our third most read paper was from Bridget Kiely and colleagues who investigated the role of community link workers. These workers are non-health or social care professionals who are skilled in determining the health and well-being needs of people, can help develop health and well-being plans, and provide support to connect patients with community resources. However, the researchers found a lack of evidence relating to these community schemes and encouraged more evaluation of such programmes.

Rice and diabetes

Jiayue Yu and colleagues carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate evidence around white or brown rice consumption, and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Overall, the study showed that there was a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes associated with brown rice consumption in medium quality observational studies. Randomised trial evidence was shown to be of more variable quality and had some inconsistencies about cardiometabolic risk factors associated with eating different types of rice.

What drives recruitment for clinical trials?

A large retrospective study of 194 trials carried out to investigate factors affecting participant accrual showed that the only influences were whether a drug was a first- or second-line therapy, which phase the trial was and who the drug manufacturer was. Drugs under investigation for third-line treatments or above are often tested in considerably smaller pools of patients. However, factors that were traditionally thought to influence patients to enrol in clinical trials such as disease burden, primary endpoint, crossover, randomisation ratio, blinding, and single-agent response were not associated with accrual rate in this study by Kristina Jenei and colleagues.

Financial links of key opinion leaders

Marie Clinckemaillie and colleagues investigated financial links between physicians and pharmaceutical companies in France during the period from 2014 to 2019, and found that those who were considered to be key opinion leaders (KOL) generally had more extensive links to industry organisations than non-KOL physicians. Almost all professional medical associations had at least one industry-linked KOL on their board.

 

Below is the full list of papers that were the most read in BMJ Open during October 2022.

 

Rank Author(s) Title
1 Zemedikun et al Burden of chronic diseases associated with periodontal diseases: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data
2 van der Meulen et al Association between use of systemic and inhaled glucocorticoids and changes in brain volume and white matter microstructure: a cross-sectional study using data from the UK Biobank
3 Kiely et al Effect of social prescribing link workers on health outcomes and costs for adults in primary care and community settings: a systematic review
4 Yu et al White rice, brown rice and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
5 Jenei et al What drives cancer clinical trial accrual? An empirical analysis of studies leading to FDA authorisation (2015-2020)
6 Burns et al Systematic review and meta-analysis to examine intrapartum interventions, and maternal and neonatal outcomes following immersion in water during labour and waterbirth
7 Clinckemaillie et al Sunshine on KOLs: assessment of the nature, extent and evolution of financial ties between the leaders of professional medical associations and the pharmaceutical industry in France from 2014 to 2019: a retrospective study
8 Bergeron-Boucher et al Probability of males to outlive females: an international comparison from 1751 to 2020
9 Risch et al Investigation of the use of a sensor bracelet for the presymptomatic detection of changes in physiological parameters related to COVID-19: an interim analysis of a prospective cohort study (COVI-GAPP)
10 Osanlou et al Adverse drug reactions, multimorbidity and polypharmacy: a prospective analysis of 1 month of medical admissions
*Most read figures are based on pdf downloads and full text views. Abstract views are excluded

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