Effect of Aspirin on Disability-free Survival in the Healthy Elderly
2018 · paper · Clinical trials
A trial studying the effect of aspirin on disability-free survival in healthy older adults. The available text gives only author and affiliation details, so no findings are described.
1 finding
Wording Table 1 footnote ‡ lists the components of "Other" race or ethnic group as "Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (12 participants), Native American (6), multiple races or ethnic groups (64), Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (11), and those who … did not state another race or ethnic group (18)", which sum to 111, while the "Other" row holds 126 + 149 = 275; the Asian participants (text: "9.9% Asian") are not named.
- p. 16 Table 1, Race or ethnic group, row 'Other'
126 (1.3) 149 (1.6)
- p. 17 Table 1 footnote ‡
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (12 participants), Native American (6), multiple races or ethnic groups (64), Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (11), and those who indicated that they were not Hispanic but did not state another race or ethnic group (18)
- p. 7 Results, Participants
54.1% were black, 29.3% Hispanic, 9.9% Asian, and 6.7% of another race or ethnic group
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Page 16 and 17 upright images and the page 7 image. The footnote categories total 111 and the table row totals 275, a gap of 164. Nonwhite participants from Table 1 number 1664 (8.7% of 19,114, matching the text); 9.9% of that is about 165 Asian and 6.7% is about 111. So the row evidently includes Asian participants (fewer than 200, so within the stated definition), but the footnote does not list them, and the text's "another race or ethnic group" (6.7%) is a narrower grouping than the table's "Other". "Which included" can be read as non-exhaustive, so the footnote is incomplete, not false; the authors should confirm.
Second check: another model agreed
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4 minor (typos and the like; most checked by the judge only)
Wording The Discussion says "No significant difference was identified regarding the effect of aspirin between the participants in the United States and those in Australia or across a range of other subgroups (prespecified or not prespecified) (Figs. S1 and S2…)" without the frailty exception given in the Results ("except for frailty (Figs. S1 and S2…)") and later in the Discussion ("consistent among all baseline subgroups except for frailty").
- p. 9 Discussion, first paragraph
or across a range of other subgroups (prespecified or not prespecified) (Figs. S1 and S2 in the Supplementary Appendix)
- p. 8 Results, Primary End Point, second paragraph
No significant interactions of subgroups with intervention effects were observed, except for frailty (Figs. S1 and S2 in the Supplementary Appendix)
- p. 10 Discussion, paragraph beginning 'With regard to the primary end point'
consistent among all baseline subgroups except for frailty
Judge's note: Checked in the text layer for pages 8, 9 and 10; this is prose wording, not numeric, and I did not open those page images. The first Discussion paragraph omits a qualification the paper makes twice, citing the same figures. "A range of other subgroups" can be read as non-exhaustive, so it is a wording inconsistency, not a contradiction. The supplementary figures are not among the files.
Second check: another model agreed
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Typo Abhayaratna's affiliation opens with a stray place name: "Perth, the College of Medicine, Biology, and Environment, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia".
- p. 2 Author list, Walter P. Abhayaratna affiliation
Perth, the College of Medicine, Biology, and Environment, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Judge's note: Seen on the page 2 image. "Perth," names no institution and precedes a Canberra affiliation; the only Perth institution on the page is Beilin's (Royal Perth Hospital, University of Western Australia). It reads as a leftover fragment from splitting a combined affiliation list. Cosmetic.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo Missing comma between degrees in the byline: "Richard Grimm, M.D. Ph.D., M.P.H.,".
- p. 2 Author list, last entry on the page
Richard Grimm, M.D. Ph.D., M.P.H.,
Judge's note: Seen on the page 2 image: there is no comma between M.D. and Ph.D., while every other author's degrees on the page are comma-separated. Punctuation only.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo Inconsistent spacing in Table 1: row label "Race or ethnic group — no.(%)‡" lacks the space used in the other "no. (%)" rows, and the header "Aspirin (N=9525)" lacks the spaces used in "Placebo (N = 9589)".
- p. 16 Table 1, race row header
Race or ethnic group — no.(%)‡
Judge's note: Both are visible on the upright page 16 image. Purely cosmetic spacing in an author manuscript; the meaning is unaffected.
Second check: none (judge only)