Results in journals often fail to match those on ClinicalTrials.gov, study finds

Clinical trial results appearing in journals are often inconsistent with those posted on the online registry ClinicalTrials.gov, a new study has found.1

Although the differences were often small and most would probably not meaningfully alter the trial conclusions, the findings suggest neither journal articles nor the registry can be assumed to be accurate sources for trial results, the researchers said.

In the study, the researchers conducted a systematic review of the results of 110 randomly selected phase 3 and 4 clinical trials completed before 2009 whose results appeared in journal publications and were posted on website ClinicalTrials.gov.

Beginning in 2008, summary results of most phase II through IV …