Disclosures: Ariel R Choi: Nothing to disclose

Objective: To appraise recent media coverage of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) research through a systematic content analysis of pertinent academic press releases.

Design: Retrospective database study.

Setting: EurekAlert! Database (eurekalert.org), the major online database for scientific press releases using the composite search strategy: "traumatic brain injury" "head trauma" "concussion" "concussions" "TBI" "head injury” "mTBI" “brain trauma".

Participants: Fifty-one press releases indexed from January 1, 2013 and December 19, 2018 reporting about mTBI-based primary research in a minimum of 150 words.

Interventions Pre-established investigator-generated criteria of aspects of misinformation.

Main Outcome Measures: Presence of “spin” (misleading title, misleading reporting, misleading claims, inappropriate extrapolation), description of study strengths and weaknesses.

Results: The database search yielded 96 total results, of which 51 met inclusion criteria. We determined that 48 of 51 studies (94.1%) were misleading with regard to titles, reporting, or claims. Inappropriate extrapolation was noted in 32 of 51 reports (62.7%). A large majority described study strengths, but few reported on study weaknesses.

Conclusions: Scientific press releases concerning mTBIs frequently exaggerate the importance of specific medical research, overstating practical impact while underemphasizing limitations. Scientific studies are complex. Misinterpretation by lay readers is frequent. Press releases may mislead patients, scholars and the general public, potentially interfering with real-life medical decisions and outcomes related to mTBIs.

Level of Evidence: Level III

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/media-misrepresentation-of-mild-traumatic-brain-injury-research-analysis-of-press-releases-from-academic-medical-centers/