But we wish it had given even a little context of what’s done to help predict prematurity now instead of the vague quote from the researcher saying “the test ‘should be an important tool for an obstetrician who currently has no clue’ if premature birth is a possibility until it happens. …Physicians will ‘be able to use a simple blood test and then know that this woman is at increased risk or reduced risk of a preterm birth.’ ”
As the story later made clear, this research is a long way away from being able to prove that claim.
Most of our criteria were addressed in this story, yet more context and more independent expert perspective focusing on the data reported in the study would have been helpful. The most challenging fact – which wasn’t addressed – is that we lack interventions to use at and after 28 weeks that effectively prevent preterm birth.
The story included an estimate that “The test may cost $150 to $250.”
Mixed bag here. We’ll give it a somewhat satisfactory grade. Here’s why.
The story stated that the test “predicted 80 percent to 90 percent of the premature births at 28 weeks of gestation. The false positive rate — referring to tests that wrongly indicated premature birth — was 20 percent. The test wasn’t as effective at 24 weeks of gestation.” It didn’t give any numbers to back up the experience at 24 weeks.
But we would have appreciated somewhere a note that it is the very early preterm births that are the most crucial to predict. The story fixates on 28 week testing. What’s really needed are means to identify and study the 23 to 28 weekers. The story also doesn’t acknowledge that we have no effective interventions to stop preterm birth and somewhat incorrectly explains how betamethasone for lung maturity works.
It also had an independent expert’s quote: “If you are going to be alarming a patient by saying that she may have premature delivery, you want to make sure that’s truly the case.” That’s a very important contribution to the story.
It mentioned that the false positive rate was 20%, so we’ll give it a passing grade. We wish, though, that it had included some expert comment on the significance of a false positive rate that high.
We’ll give it a satisfactory score, but because very high in the story it stated that “The test isn’t ready for prime time, however, and it’s not foolproof: a study found that it misses some premature births and incorrectly predicts others.”
The story gave estimates of how many births are premature, so did not commit overt disease-mongering.
The story quoted one independent expert; it could have been improved with more comment from her or from others.
The story didn’t comment on any other research in this field – nothing on any other investigations into what can be done to better predict prematurity. So this one study on this one approach is reported in isolation.
The big gap that is unaddressed is that we don’t have any treatments even if we know someone is at high risk. In effect, we would be “alarming” lots of patients to no particular end at this point; unless they have had a prior preterm birth and are eligible for progesterone treatment but use of that preventive intervention starts at 16 to 22 weeks and is not relevant to the new test.
It’s clear from the story that “It would require several years to go through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval process.”
The story never put the new test into the context of other research attempts to study what to do to predict prematurity. So its real novelty – and role – isn’t clearly established.
It’s clear that the story did not rely solely on a news release.
Systematic, Criteria-Driven
We’ve written about the hype of liquid biopsies for years (see link in comment below). And now this…. https://www.statnews.com/2022/01/12/medicare-shouldnt-cover-liquid-biopsies-early-cancer-detection/
Case counts still matter. “(There) are stories that may not be told adequately if only hospitalizations and deaths are emphasized.” @garyschwitzer interviewed by @dbauder of @AP. https://apnews.com/article/omicron-changing-news-outlets-covid-data-da9272f7c4c8a109c3bfb56bed9e9c76
My friend Gary @garyschwitzer wrote to his city council representative in a Minnesota town about a Viva Las Vegas event scheduled for January.
The response he got seems to perfectly capture where we are now.
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/12/2021-ends-with-covid-craziness-in-sports-and-politics/
Comments
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like