Introduction:

There is a growing concern among clinicians and researchers that many results published in scientific journals are false positives.

Objective:

To determine the value of evidence or integrity of the body of the published literature on the efficacy of pregabalin, gabapentin and duloxetine in the treatment of neuropathic pain.

Methods:

A literature search was conducted selecting randomized clinical trials that evaluated the efficacy of pregabalin, gabapentin and duloxetine in neuropathic pain. The p-curve analysis of the studies with statistically significant results was applied to study their distribution.

Results:

It was demonstrated that there was a significant asymmetry to the right in the p-curve of the three drugs (continuous test p <0.0001) confirming the value of evidence from the studies.

Conclusions

Clinicians, scientists and scientific publications should be aware of the growing problem with "p-hacking" and its harmful effects. All parties share the responsibility to maintain the scientific integrity of the published literature.

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