Positive Outcomes, Mortality Rates, and Publication Bias in Septic Shock Trials

link.springer.com June 22, 2019

Out of 65 eligible septic shock trials, 14 did not have a clearly deﬁned control group (two standards of care were compared) and were excluded. For the 51 remaining trials, control-group mortality ranged between 15.9% and 84.6% (mean 39.1%) and did not change over time (trend p = 0.390). Intervention-group mortality ranged between 4.4% and 70.0% (mean 34.0%) and did not change over time (p = 0.070). Eleven trials (22%) showed a significant (“positive”) primary endpoint effect in favor of the intervention group, but none in favor of the control group.