Acute cardiac care & resuscitation
Selection bias introduced in a randomized clinical trial due to employee instigated deletion of newborn resuscitation videos
- randomized clinical trial
- comparison of proxies for severity of birth asphyxia before and after introduction of an anonymous opt-out solution
+1 more
- comparison of proxies for severity of birth asphyxia before and after introduction of an anonymous opt-out solution
Authors' conclusion
The introduction of anonymous employee deletion of videos resulted in systematic differences among included newborns, strongly suggesting a selection bias. The trial was terminated halfway without power to conclude on outcomes.
Study context
- Population
- Newborns of gestational age ≥34 weeks in the NeoBeat trial at Stavanger University Hospital, Norwaynewborns enrolled before and after implementation of the anonymous opt-out solution · enrolled before anonymous opt-out solution 7,343/10,362 (71%) · enrolled after anonymous opt-out solution 2,566/4,417 (58%)
- Participants
- 171 vs 66
- Comparison
- proxies for severity of birth asphyxia before and after introduction of the anonymous opt-out solution
- beforen = 171
- aftern = 66
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Cases lost to anonymous deletion request
before
0
events
after
14
events
- Time of birth available (before)
- 171
- Video available (after)
- 80
Further findings
Participant characteristics, Apgar scores, duration of ventilation, admissions
- No differences in participant characteristics
- Significantly higher Apgar scores, shorter duration of ventilation, and fewer admissions after implementation of the anonymous opt-out solution
Original publication
Selection bias introduced in a randomized clinical trial due to employee instigated deletion of newborn resuscitation videos. Resuscitation. Published 1 September 2026. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2026.111288
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it