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Reporting bias inflates the reputation of medical treatments: A comparison of outcomes in clinical trials and online product reviews

Mícheál de Barra

Social Science & Medicine, 2017, vol. 177, issue C, 248-255

Abstract: People often hold unduly positive expectations about the outcomes of medicines and other healthcare products. Here the following explanation is tested: people who have a positive outcome tend to tell more people about their disease/treatment than people with poor or average outcomes. Akin to the file drawer problem in science, this systematically and positively distorts the information available to others.

Keywords: Health informatics; eHealth; Medical overuse; Word of mouth; Cultural evolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.01.033

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