Quality, Bias, and Integrity in Pain Research: Creating the Next Generation of Pain Science

Produced by IASP's Methodology, Evidence Synthesis, and Implementation Special Interest Group (MESISIG), this webinar took place on 20 April 2023.

This webinar, using systematic review as a reference, highlighted how biased and poor-quality primary studies can lead to misleading claims for efficacy and safety in pain treatment and that - beyond bias - there is a growing awareness regarding the importance of research integrity and of challenges that impact upon the trustworthiness of clinical evidence. These proceedings reported on:

1) How to understand quality in both primary research and systematic review.
2) How spin (i.e., misdirection) and diversion occur.
3) The current state of scientific retractions in pain literature; and
4) How we might explore the trustworthiness of pain evidence.

Participants included:

• Andrew Moore, DPhil, DSc, CChem FRSC, University of Oxford, UK; Quality and Bias in Clinical Pain Science
• Emma Fisher, PhD, University of Bath, UK; Research Integrity I: Spin and Diversion in Pain Science
• Michael Ferraro, PhD Candidate, Centre for Pain IMPACT at NeuRA, Sydney, Australia; Research Integrity II: Retraction and its Causes in Pain Science
• Neil O'Connell, PhD, Brunel University, UK; Research Integrity III: Exploring Divergent Results Through an Integrity Lens
• Sebastian Straube, BM BCh, MA (Oxon), DPhil, University of Alberta, Canada; Reflections and Practical Strategies to Develop Cultures of Integrity
• Amanda Williams, PhD, CPsychol, University College London, UK (facilitator)