Cited by 53Alcohol Consumption and Health EffectsMeta-analysis and systematic reviewsStatistical Methods in Epidemiology

How good is the science?

Open access
Stockwell, T., Greer, A., Fillmore, K., Chikritzhs, T., Zeisser, C.·2012·BMJ

Abstract

Ronksley and colleagues asserted that the association between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced mortality risk was “beyond question.”1 We reviewed all 67 studies that generated the 84 articles in their meta-analysis. All but two had at least one of six serious methodological problems, and these two had mixed findings (figure⇓); see http://carbc.ca/Portals/0/News/FeatureSupplement201203.pdf for bibliography).

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1136/bmj.e2276

Cites

3 of 3 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Beneficial effects of non-heavy drinking on ischaemic diseases have been put into question for different reasons.

    “While these beneficial effects have been put into question for different reasons (e.g. 174, 258, 259), and while they may be overestimated using standard epidemiological methodology because of biased comparison groups 260, biological pathways corroborate some protective effect.”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Fillmore K, Stockwell T, Chikritzhs T, Bostrom A. Moderate alcohol use and reduced mortality risk: systematic error in prospective studies and new hypotheses. Ann Epidemiol 2006;95:135-46.
  2. Shaper AG, Wannamethee SF. J-shaped curve and changes in drinking habit. In: Chadwick, DJ, Goode JA, eds. Alcohol and cardiovascular diseases: Novartis foundation symposium 216. John Wiley and Sons, 1998:173-92.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Stockwell, T., Greer, A., Fillmore, K., Chikritzhs, T., & Zeisser, C.
Affiliations
  • University of Victoria (CA)
  • University of Toronto (CA)
  • Institute for Scientific Analysis (US)
  • Curtin University (AU)
Venue
BMJ
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2012-03-27
Volume
344
Issue
mar27 2
Pages
e2276-e2276
ISSN
  • 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
  • 0959-8138
  • 1468-5833
OpenAlex
W2019716439
Cited by
53
References
3
Citations by year
2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 5
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • BMJ (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
Keywords
moderate drinking, mortality risk, meta-analysis critique, methodological errors, health effects of alcohol
MeSH terms
Alcohol Drinking, Cardiovascular Diseases, Humans

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review