Complemen a y The apies in Medicine 68 (2022) 102844
A ailable online 26 May 2022
0965-2299/© 2022 Published by Else ie L d. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY-NC-ND license (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Au ho esponse o: Ha dly aceable pi alls in medical e iew a icles
Conduc ing a sys ema ic e iew. Should we based ou scien i ic
analysis on pe sonal imp essions?
The p esen le e is in esponse o a le e o he edi o en i led
“Ha dly aceable pi alls in medical e iew a icles”,
1
ecen ly pub-
lished in Complemen a y The apies in Medicine. In his le e ,
co-au ho s Ola R. an Loon and A.J. an Loon discussed some allegedly
pi alls in ou 2020 sys ema ic e iew in es iga ing he e ec s o d y
needling in people a e s oke,
2
e iew ha he au ho s iden i ied as he
RVC s udy.
We app ecia e he in e es in ou wo k, which ep esen s he i s
sys ema ic e iew on he opic. The au ho s o he le e iden i ied ou
pape as he bes example o a e iew s udy ollowing p esen -day
s anda ds despi e mo e ecen e iews (e en wi h me a-analysis) ha e
been published in his ield.
3,4
Howe e , hey also claimed ha se e al
sho comings could ha e been a oided wi h a mo e ho ough e iew
p ocess, as hey did o a M.Sc. hesis.
The i s and key (supposed) pi all o he RVC s udy is wha hey
called possible in e dependence o p ima y publica ions. This conce n is
ela ed o h ee o he 16 s udies included in ou e iew, ha we e
iden i ied as he SMS s udies.
5–7
Ola R. an Loon and A.J. an Loon
s a ed ha some pa icipan s included in he SMS s udies we e he same
indi iduals. Acco dingly, we should ha e epo ed i . Had we de ec ed
ha di e en s udies included he same sample popula ion, we would
ha e acknowledged his issue, as we did in o he e iew s udies.
8
Howe e , o ou knowledge, cu en da a is no enough o suppo ha
s a emen . As esea ches, ou wo k is o ca e ully ga he e idence,
discuss hei quali y, and in e p e he clinical impac o he indings o
p ese e scien i ic p og ess. I is no ou du y, howe e , o ques ion he
in eg i y o p ima y da a wi hou e idence o do i so. All h ee SMS
s udies had di e en ec ui men pe iods. Salom-Mo eno e al.
5
ec ui ed pa icipan s be ween Janua y and Oc obe 2013,
Mendigu ia-Gomez e al.
6
ec ui ed pa ien s om Janua y 2014 o
Ma ch 2015 and S´
anchez-Mila e al.
7
did i om Oc obe 2015 o Ap il
2016. Addi ionally, he la e o he clinical ials excluded pa ien s ha
"had ecei ed p e ious ea men wi h d y needling".
7
Thus, a
leas o his s udy, i is no possible o assume ha pa icipan s we e
he same han in he o he wo pape s. The SMS s udies we e app o ed
wi h di e en E hics Commi ee app o al’s code and had di e en eg-
is ies a ClinicalT ial.go , which again pu in o ques ion he so-called
in e dependency o publica ions. Finally, he ials di e ed in he clin-
ical cha ac e is ics o he sample, e.g., numbe o pa icipan s, mean age,
mon hs a e s oke, and in e en ion p o ocol. Including s udies om
he same au ho s (who may be expe s in he ield) in a e iew s udy
should no be a bias pe se. All in all, he allegedly pi alls a e based on a
belie a he han on a ce ain y. The le e o he edi o poin s ou ha
“ou imp ession is ha some o he subjec s a e included in wo o e en
in h ee o he SMS s udies.” Scien i ic esea ch should no be a ma e o
pe sonal imp essions. I co-au ho s o he le e ha e easons o belie e
ha he e is a scien i ic misconduc
9
in any o he SMS s udies, hey
should di ec ly add ess he au ho s o he jou nals whe e he s udies
we e published and p o ide da a o suppo hei allega ions. We belie e
ou e iew complied wi h he s anda ds o he A MeaSu emen Tool o
Assess sys ema ic Re iews-2 (AMSTAR 2) guidelines,
10
as we accoun ed
o he isk o bias and he he e ogenei y in indi idual s udies when
in e p e ing he esul s. This was he main eason no o conduc a
me a-analysis, con a y o a ecen e iew in his ield ha analyzed he
same andomized con olled ials.
3
The second aspec o he le e (inco ec p ima y da a) ela es o he
lack o da a accu acy in he s udy by Mendigu ia-G´
omez e al.
6
We ag ee
on his conce n. Mendigu ia-Gomez e al. epo ed ha he e we e 10
pa icipan s in he expe imen al g oup, bu ables only included da a
om 9 indi iduals. We ailed o de ec his inaccu acy, which has been
epea ed by he wo mos ecen e iews in he ield.
3,4
The e o e, we
commend he au ho s o he le e o no icing his mis ake. Whe he his
missing pa icipan makes a di e ence be ween a s a is ically signi ican
o no signi ican esul emains unknown bu needs o be highligh ed.
In conclusion, we unde s and he conce ns abou he need o p og-
ess wi h scien i ic li e a u e when conduc ing e iews in he heal h
sciences ield. This is a sha ed
esponsibili y o p ima y au ho s, pee e iewe s, edi o s, e-
sea che s conduc ing sys ema ic e iews, and he whole scien i ic
communi y. P og ess in scien i ic esea ch may be hampe ed i pi alls
a e no p ope ly iden i ied, bu also i pe sonal imp essions lead ou
analysis o clinical esea ch.
Decla a ion o Compe ing In e es
The au ho s decla e no po en ial con lic s o in e es conce ning he
esea ch, au ho ship, and/o publica ion o his a icle.
Re e ences
1. an Loon OR, an Loon AJ. Ha dly aceable pi alls in medical e iew a icles.
Complemen The Med. 2022, 102828.
2Valencia-Chuli´
an R, He edia-Rizo AM, Mo al-Munoz JA, Lucena-An on D, Luque-
Mo eno C. D y needling o he managemen o spas ici y, pain, and ange o
mo emen in adul s a e s oke: a sys ema ic e iew. Complemen The Med. 2020;52,
102515.
3. Fe n´
andez-de-Las-Pe˜
nas C, P´
e ez-Bellmun A, Llu da-Almuza a L, Plaza-Manzano G,
De-la-Lla e-Rinc´
on AI, Na a o-San ana MJ. Is d y needling e ec i e o he man-
agemen o spas ici y, pain, and mo o unc ion in pos -s oke pa ien s? A sys ema ic
e iew and me a-Analysis. Pain Med. 2021;22:131–141.
4Nú˜
nez-Co ´
es R, C uz-Mon ecinos C, La o e-Ga cía R, P´
e ez-Alenda S, To es-
Cas o R. E ec i eness o d y needling in he managemen o spas ici y in pa ien s
pos s oke. J S oke Ce eb Dis. 2020;29, 105236.
5Salom-Mo eno J, S´
anchez-Mila Z, O ega-San iago R, Palacios-Ce˜
na M, T uyol-
Domínguez S, Fe n´
andez-De-Las-Pe˜
nas C. Changes in spas ici y, widesp ead p essu e
pain sensi i i y, and ba opodome y a e he applica ion o d y needling in pa ien s
Con en s lis s a ailable a ScienceDi ec
Complemen a y The apies in Medicine
jou nal homepage: www.else ie .com/loca e/c im
h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.c im.2022.102844
Complemen a y The apies in Medicine 68 (2022) 102844
2
who ha e had a s oke: a andomized con olled ial. J Manip Physiol The . 2014;37
(569–579):5.
6Mendigu ia-G´
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Pe˜
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7S´
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8Ga cía-Be nal MI, He edia-Rizo AM, Gonz´
alez-Ga cía P, Casuso-Holgado MJ. Validi y
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10 Shea BJ, Ree es BC, Wells G, e al. AMSTAR 2: a c i ical app aisal ool o sys ema ic
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Ra ael Valencia-Chuli´
an
a
, Albe o Ma cos He edia-Rizo
b
,
c
,
*
, Jose
A. Mo al-Munoz
a
,
d
, Da id Lucena-An on
a
, Ca los Luque-Mo eno
b
a
Depa men o Nu sing and Physio he apy, Facul y o Nu sing and
Physio he apy, Uni e si y o C´
adiz, C´
adiz, Spain
b
Depa men o Physio he apy, Facul y o Nu sing, Physio he apy and
Podia y, Uni e si y o Se illa, Se illa, Spain
c
Unce ain y, Mind ulness, Sel , and Spi i uali y (UMSS) Resea ch G oup,
Spain
d
Ins i u e o Resea ch and Inno a ion in Biomedical Sciences o he P o ince
o C´
adiz (INiBICA), Uni e si y o C´
adiz, C´
adiz, Spain
*
Co espondence o: Depa amen o de Fisio e apia, Facul ad de
En e me ía, Fisio e apia y Podología, Uni e sidad de Se illa, c/
A icena s/n, 41009 Se illa, Spain.
E-mail add ess: [email p o ec ed] (A.M. He edia-Rizo).
R. Valencia-Chuli´
an e al.
