A gender-sensitised weight loss and healthy living programme for overweight and obese men delivered by Scottish Premier League football clubs (FFIT): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial
Assessed by RV014 · Research Fellow
Assessed on 5 Nov 2025
OverallReviewer's overall integrity assessment, derived from all research questions No concerns
DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62420-4 (opens in new tab)
Resource ripekg:research-integrity-assessment/RIPEA478B1903A8898743
5 Research Questions · 3 Evidence Items
Q1.1 — Does the study have an associated retraction?
Rationale: I agree with INSPECT-AI
Q1.2 — Does the study have an associated expression of concern or other relevant post-publication notice?
Rationale: I agree with INSPECT-AI
Q1.3 — Do other studies by the research team highlight causes for concern?
Rationale: One of the authors is associated with a retracted article; however, this article was retracted by the authors due to concerns about the completeness of β-blocker prescription data during the first year of the observation period. This suggests that the authors have conducted their own integrity checks of their work. See https://thorax.bmj.com/content/66/3/269
Supporting Evidence (1)
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Prescribing of ß-adrenoceptor Antagonists in Asthma: An Observational Study
10.1136/thx.2010.149286 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 535
Rationale: Error in Data;Error in Methods;Error in Results and/or Conclusions
About Author: Peter Donnan
Q2.2 — Are there concerns relating to the timing or absence of study registration?
Rationale: I agree with INSPECT-AI that study registration appears to be after the recruitment date: ISRCTN submission date is 27/09/2011 and registration date is 20/10/2011. Formal recruitment began on 2nd June 2011 and baseline data appear to have been collected from 11 August; however the date of first enrolment is listed in ISRCTN as 01/06/2011, so it appears that the authors have been 'honest' that the registration was retrospective. Ethics approval was granted on 17th May 2011 (Ref CSS/2011/029).
Supporting Evidence (2)
Clinical Trial RegistrationSource: Clinical trial registry (e.g. ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN)
Registration ID: ISRCTN32677491
Registry: ISRCTN
Registry Link: https://trialsearch.who.int/Trial2.aspx?TrialID=ISRCTN32677491 (opens in new tab)
Registration Date: 20/10/2011
Prospective:Whether the trial was registered before participant recruitment began No
Assessment Rationale:How INSPECT-AI determined the prospective registration status by comparing dates Registration date is after LLM recruitment start date.
Study Design EvidenceDates and timelines extracted by INSPECT-AI from the publication text
Recruitment Start: 02-06-2011
Recruitment Start Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the recruitment start date Formal recruitment started on June 2, 2011 (Methods).
Recruitment End: 20-09-2011
Recruitment End Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the recruitment end date Recruitment continued until the week before the baseline measurements in each club, which took place between Aug 11, 2011, and Sept 20, 2011 (Methods).
Study End: N/A
Study End Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the study end date No explicit study end date found; no 'final follow-up' date stated.
Overall — What is the overall integrity assessment of the study?
Rationale: I agree that trial registration was retrospective but it appears that the authors have been transparent about this as the enrolment date is given as 01/06/2011 in the ISRCTN registry.