Quality of abstracts of randomized control trials in five top pain journals: A systematic survey

Harnack H, Huang L, Sikorski C, Mbuagbaw L, de Souza RJ. Assessment of reporting quality of randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of inulin-type fructans supplementation on cardiovascular disease risk factors: A systematic survey

BACKGROUND

Transparent and detailed reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is essential to judge its validity and generalizability. We assessed the reporting quality of RCTs examining the effects of inulin-type fructans supplementation on cardiovascular risk factors, before and after the publication of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) in 2010.

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Emcare, AMED, the Cochrane Library, and CINAHL from inception to May 15, 2022, including the reference lists of selected RCTs. We screened titles and abstracts and extracted the data independently and in duplicate. We included RCTs that investigated the effects of inulin-type fructans on cardiovascular disease risk factors (e.g., low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood glucose) in adults (18 years or older). The primary outcomes of this study were: the overall reporting quality of RCTs (defined as the total number of items [0 to 36] present from the CONSORT checklist) published before and after CONSORT; and the study characteristics (e.g., sample size, significance of primary outcome) predictive of the CONSORT score. The secondary outcome was the reporting of each specific item of the CONSORT checklist during pre- and post-CONSORT periods. The mean difference in the total number of reported items in studies published before and after CONSORT were compared using a t-test and Poisson regression to explore the factors associated with overall reporting quality of RCTs. We used Fisher's exact test to compare the adherence to each of the 36 items during pre- and post-CONSORT periods.

RESULTS

We identified 1,767 citations from our systematic search, of which 55 were eligible. There was a significant increase in the reporting of CONSORT items (mean difference 8.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.24 to 11.71) between studies published before and after publication of CONSORT. The sole variable that was predictive of better reporting quality of RCTs was whether the study was published before or after CONSORT (incidence rate ratio 1.67, 95% CI 1.40 to 2.02). Completeness of reporting of RCTs only improved in 15 out of 36 items (41.6%) after the publication of CONSORT.

CONCLUSION

The completeness of reporting in RCTs investigating inulin-type fructans supplementation on cardiovascular disease risk factors remains inadequate after the publication of CONSORT. Greater adherence to CONSORT by authors and enforcement of CONSORT by journals may improve the quality of reporting among RCTs.

Reporting quality of abstracts from randomised controlled trials published in leading critical care nursing journals: a methodological quality review

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the methodological quality of randomised controlled trial (RCT) abstracts in leading critical care nursing journals against the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials-Abstracts (CONSORT-A) checklist and to identify variables related with abstract reporting quality.

DESIGN

Descriptive methodological quality review.

DATA SOURCE

We searched the PubMed database and the websites of each included journal.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

We included RCT abstracts published between 2011 and 2021 in the first 11 Scopus-ranking (2021) critical care nursing journals that reported the results of RCTs in English that referred to the care of adult patients with acute/critical illness or their relatives and/or caregivers and conducted in ICUs.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Two independent investigators extracted the data using a prespecified 17-item checklist directly derived from CONSORT-A. For the primary outcome, each item was evaluated whether it was adequately reported or not and descriptive statistics were reported. An overall score was calculated by summing the results of all items and multivariate linear regression was conducted to detect potential predictors.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight RCT abstracts were included in this review. The items with the highest CONSORT-A adherence were authors, objective, conclusion, participants, interventions and outcome. The randomisation item had the lowest CONSORT-A adherence, followed by trial registration, funding source, harms or side effects, recruitment, blinding and outcome results. The average CONSORT-A score was 8.5±1.5 points (of the maximum 17.5 points). Multivariate analysis indicated that the categorised word score and publication date were positively associated with the overall CONSORT-A score, while the first author's country being in Asia was negatively associated with the overall CONSORT-A score.

CONCLUSIONS

The 78 RCT abstracts showed poor overall adherence to CONSORT-A. The results indicate that the methodological reporting quality of RCT abstracts in critical care nursing journals requires improvement to facilitate assessment of the applicability and relevance of the results reported.

Time to Publication for Randomized Clinical Trials Presented as Abstracts at Three Gastroenterology and Hepatology Conferences in 2017

Background & Aims

Results of randomized clinical trials are often first presented as conference abstracts, but these abstracts may be difficult to find, and trial results included in the abstract may not be followed by subsequent journal publications. In a review of abstracts submitted to eight major medical and surgical conferences in 2017, we identified 237 abstracts reporting primary results of randomized clinical trials accepted for presentation at three major gastroenterology and hepatology conferences. The aims of this new analysis were to determine the publication rate for these abstracts and the proportion of publications that included trial registration numbers in the publication abstract.

Methods

Clinical trial registries, PubMed, Europe PMC, and Google Scholar were searched through November 1, 2021, for publications reporting trial results for the selected abstracts. Publications were reviewed to determine if they included a trial registration number and if the registration number was in the abstract.

Results

Publications were found for 157 abstracts (66%) within four years of the conference. Publications were found more frequently for the 194 abstracts reporting results of registered trials (144, 74%) than for the 43 abstracts reporting unregistered trials (13, 30%), but only 67% of these 144 publications included the registration number in the publication abstract. Ten unpublished trials had summary results posted on ClinicalTrials.gov.

Conclusions

Clinical trial results could be more accessible if all trials were registered, authors included registration numbers in both conference and journal abstracts, and journal editors required the inclusion of registration numbers in publication abstracts for registered clinical trials.

Reporting quality for abstracts of randomised trials on child and adolescent depression prevention: a meta-epidemiological study on adherence to CONSORT for abstracts

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate adherence to Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) for abstracts in reports of randomised trials on child and adolescent depression prevention. Secondary objective was to examine factors associated with overall reporting quality.

DESIGN

Meta-epidemiological study.

DATA SOURCES

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PsycArticles and CENTRAL.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Trials were eligible if the sample consisted of children and adolescents under 18 years with or without an increased risk for depression or subthreshold depression. We included reports published from 1 January 2003 to 8 August 2020 on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster randomised trials (CRTs) assessing universal, selective and indicated interventions aiming to prevent the onset of depression or reducing depressive symptoms.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

As the primary outcome measure, we assessed for each trial abstract whether information recommended by CONSORT was adequately reported, inadequately reported or not reported. Moreover, we calculated a summative score of overall reporting quality and analysed associations with trial and journal characteristics.

RESULTS

We identified 169 eligible studies, 103 (61%) RCTs and 66 (39%) CRTs. Adequate reporting varied considerably across CONSORT items: while 9 out of 10 abstracts adequately reported the study objective, no abstract adequately provided information on blinding. Important adverse events or side effects were only adequately reported in one out of 169 abstracts. Summative scores for the abstracts' overall reporting quality ranged from 17% to 83%, with a median of 40%. Scores were associated with the number of authors, abstract word count, journal impact factor, year of publication and abstract structure.

CONCLUSIONS

Reporting quality for abstracts of trials on child and adolescent depression prevention is suboptimal. To help health professionals make informed judgements, efforts for improving adherence to reporting guidelines for abstracts are needed.

Effects of inulin-type fructans supplementation on cardiovascular disease risk factors: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials

INTRODUCTION

This review aims to assess the effects of dietary supplementation with inulin-type fructans (ITF) compared with no supplementation on cardiovascular disease risk factors in adults and assess the quality of trial reporting using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) and CONSORT for abstract (CONSORT-A) checklists.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will search randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Emcare, AMED and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from inception to 31 March 2022, without any language restrictions. The RCTs need to administer ITF in adults for at least 2 weeks and assess effects on at least one cardiovascular risk factor. We will exclude RCTs that (1) assessed the postprandial effects of ITF; (2) included pregnant or lactating participants; (3) enrolled participants undergoing treatment that might affect the response to ITF. We will assess the study risk of bias (RoB) using V.2 of the Cochrane RoB tool for RCTs (RoB 2) and the certainty of the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) approach. We will pool data using a random-effects model. We will use the χ² test to compare compliance of CONSORT and CONSORT-A checklists and Poisson regression to identify factors associated with better reporting.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethics approval is not required for secondary analysis of already published data. We will publish the reviews in a peer-review journal.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42019136745.

Evaluation of reporting quality of abstracts of randomized controlled trials regarding patients with COVID-19 using the CONSORT statement for abstracts

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the reporting quality of randomized controlled trial (RCT) abstracts regarding patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to analyze the factors influencing the quality.

METHODS

The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched to collect RCTs on patients with COVID-19. The retrieval time was from inception to December 1, 2020. The CONSORT statement for abstracts was used to evaluate the reporting quality of RCT abstracts.

RESULTS

A total of 53 RCT abstracts were included. The CONSORT statement for abstracts showed that the average reporting rate of all items was 50.2%. The items with a lower reporting quality were mainly the trial design and the details of randomization and blinding (<10%). The mean overall adherence score across all studies was 8.68 ± 2.69 (range 4-13.5). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the higher reporting scores were associated with higher journal impact factor (P < 0.01), international collaboration (P = 0.04), and structured abstract format (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Although many RCTs on patients with COVID-19 have been published in different journals, the overall quality of reporting in the included RCT abstracts was suboptimal, thus diminishing their potential usefulness, and this may mislead clinical decision-making. In order to improve the reporting quality, it is necessary to promote and actively apply the CONSORT statement for abstracts.

A multiyear systematic survey of the quality of reporting for randomised trials in dentistry, neurology and geriatrics published in journals of Spain and Latin America

BACKGROUND

The Iberoamerican Cochrane Network is currently developing an extensive project to identify Spanish-language journals that publish original clinical research in Spain and Latin America. The project is called BADERI (Database of Iberoamerican Essays and Journal) and feeds the research articles, mainly randomised clinical trials (RCTs), into CENTRAL (Cochrane Collaboration Central Register of Controlled Trials). This study aims to assess the quality of reporting of RCTs published in Spanish and Latin American journals for three clinical fields and assess changes over time.

METHODS

We did a systematic survey with time trend analysis of RCTs for dentistry, geriatrics, and neurology. These fields were chosen for pragmatic reasons as they had not yet been completed in BADERI. After screening RCTs from 1990 to 2018 for randomised or quasi-randomised clinical trials, we extracted data for 23 CONSORT items. The primary outcome was the total score of the 23 predefined CONSORT 2010 items for each RCT (score range from 0 to 34). The secondary outcome measure was the score for each one of these 23 items.

RESULTS

A total of 392 articles from 1990 to 2018 were included as follows: dentistry (282), neurology (80), and geriatrics (30). We found that the overall compliance score for the CONSORT items included in this study for all 392 RCTs analysed was 12.6 on a scale with a maximum score of 34. With time, the quality of reporting improved slightly for all RCTs. None of the articles achieved the complete individual CONSORT item compliance score. The lowest overall compliance percentage was for item 10 (Randomisation implementation) and item 24 (Protocol registration), with a dismal 1% compliance across all included RCTs, regardless of country.

CONCLUSIONS

CONSORT compliance is very poor in the 392 analysed RCTs. The impact of the CONSORT statement on improving the completeness of RCT reporting in Latin America and Spain is not clear. Iberoamerican journals should become more involved in endorsing and enforcing adherence to the CONSORT guidelines.

Do not make clinical decisions based on abstracts of healthcare research: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the reporting quality of healthcare abstracts and inconsistencies between abstracts and full texts.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

This systematic review included overviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews (SRs) that summarized data of healthcare abstracts on reporting of abstracts and consistency of abstracts with the full text. Searches were performed in PubMed, CENTRAL, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases from 1900 to February 2019. Two authors screened the overviews and extracted the data. All analyses were descriptive and divided into two main groups: abstracts' reporting quality and abstracts' consistency with the full text. Abstracts were considered poorly reported and inconsistent with the full text if more than 5% of abstracts' information was not fully reported or not consistent with the full text.

RESULTS

27 overviews analyzing 5,194 RCTs and 866 SRs were retrieved for reporting quality of abstracts. A total of 22 overviews analyzing 2,025 RCTs and 551 SRs were included for consistency of abstracts with the full text. Abstracts across all healthcare areas presented poor reporting quality and were inconsistent with the full texts, with results and conclusions as the most inconsistent sections.

CONCLUSION

Abstracts of healthcare RCTs and SRs have shown a large room for improvement in reporting quality and consistency with the full text. Authors, journal editors and reviewers need to give the highest priority to this matter.

Biomedical conferences’ author instructions rarely mention guidelines for reporting abstracts of trials and systematic reviews

Aim: To analyze whether instructions for authors of biomedical conference abstracts mention guidelines for writing randomized controlled trial and systematic review abstracts and to evaluate reasons for their absence from instructions. Materials & methods: We analyzed instructions for authors of biomedical conferences advertized in 2019 and assessed whether they mentioned Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Abstracts and Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials for Abstracts guidelines. We surveyed contact persons from abstract/publication committees of selected conferences to analyze why relevant guidelines were missing. Results: Instructions for abstracts were available for 819 conferences. Only two (0.2%) had reporting instructions for randomized controlled trial/systematic review authors. Almost half of the contacted conference organizers whose response we received were not aware of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Abstracts and Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials for Abstracts guidelines. Conclusion: Conference organizers do not require and are not familiar enough with reporting guidelines.

Reporting trends of p values in the neurosurgical literature

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to evaluate the trends in reporting of p values in the neurosurgical literature from 1990 through 2017.

METHODS

All abstracts from the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry (JNNP), Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) collection (including Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine and Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics), Neurosurgery (NS), and Journal of Neurotrauma (JNT) available on PubMed from 1990 through 2017 were retrieved. Automated text mining was performed to extract p values from relevant abstracts. Extracted p values were analyzed for temporal trends and characteristics.

RESULTS

The search yielded 47,889 relevant abstracts. A total of 34,324 p values were detected in 11,171 abstracts. Since 1990 there has been a steady, proportionate increase in the number of abstracts containing p values. There were average absolute year-on-year increases of 1.2% (95% CI 1.1%-1.3%; p < 0.001), 0.93% (95% CI 0.75%-1.1%; p < 0.001), 0.70% (95% CI 0.57%-0.83%; p < 0.001), and 0.35% (95% CI 0.095%-0.60%; p = 0.0091) of abstracts reporting p values in JNNP, JNS, NS, and JNT, respectively. There have also been average year-on-year increases of 0.045 (95% CI 0.031-0.059; p < 0.001), 0.052 (95% CI 0.037-0.066; p < 0.001), 0.042 (95% CI 0.030-0.054; p < 0.001), and 0.041 (95% CI 0.026-0.056; p < 0.001) p values reported per abstract for these respective journals. The distribution of p values showed a positive skew and strong clustering of values at rounded decimals (i.e., 0.01, 0.02, etc.). Between 83.2% and 89.8% of all reported p values were at or below the "significance" threshold of 0.05 (i.e., p ≤ 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Trends in reporting of p values and the distribution of p values suggest publication bias remains in the neurosurgical literature.

Quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs published in emergency medicine journals: a systematic survey of the literature suggests we can do better

OBJECTIVE

We investigated the association between the publication of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials extension for abstracts (CONSORT-EA) and other variables of interest on the quality of reporting of abstracts of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in emergency medicine (EM) journals.

METHODS

We performed a survey of the literature, comparing the quality of reporting before (2005-2007) with after (2014-2015) the publication of the dedicated CONSORT-EA in 2008. The quality of reporting was measured as the sum of items of the CONSORT-EA checklist reported in each abstract, ranging from 0 to 15. The main explanatory variable was the period of publication: pre-CONSORT-EA versus post-CONSORT-EA public. Other explanatory variables were journal's endorsement of the CONSORT statement, number of centres participating in the study, study's sample size, type of intervention, significance of results, source of funding and study setting. We analysed the data using generalised estimation equations, performing a univariate and a multivariable analysis.

RESULTS

We retrieved 844 articles, and randomly selected 60 per period for review, after stratifying for journal. The mean (SD) number of items reported was 6.4 (1.9) in the period before and 6.9 (1.8) in the period after the publication of the CONSORT-EA, with an adjusted mean difference (aMD) of 0.47 (95% CI -0.13 to 1.06). Abstracts of trials of pharmacological interventions had a significantly larger mean number of reported items than those of trials of non-pharmacological interventions (aMD 1.59; 95% CI 0.94 to 2.24).

CONCLUSIONS

The quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs published in EM journals is low and was not significantly impacted by the publication of a dedicated CONSORT-EA.

The reporting of progression criteria in protocols of pilot trials designed to assess the feasibility of main trials is insufficient: a meta-epidemiological study

Introduction

Pilot and feasibility trials are conducted to determine feasibility or to collect information that would inform the design of a larger definitive trial. Clear progression criteria are required to determine if a definitive or main trial is feasible and how it should be designed. We sought to determine how often progression criteria are reported and the associated factors.

Methods

We conducted a methodological review of protocols for pilot randomised trials published in three journals that publish research protocols (BMJ Open, Trials, Pilot and Feasibility Studies), using a PubMed search (2013–2017). We extracted bibliometric information including the country in which the study was conducted, source of funding, type of intervention, use of a primary feasibility outcome, sample size reporting, and justification. We used generalised linear models to determine the factors associated with reporting progression criteria.

Results

Our search retrieved 276 articles, of which 49 were not eligible. We included 227 articles. Overall, 45/227 (19.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 14.8–25.6) reported progression criteria. Protocols published in more recent years were significantly associated with higher odds of reporting progression criteria (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.40; 95% CI 1.03–1.92; p = 0.034). Pilot trials from Europe (aOR 0.19; 95% CI 0.08–0.48; p < 0.001) and the rest of the world (aOR 0.05; 95% CI 0.01–0.18; p < 0.003) compared to North America were significantly associated with lower odds of reporting progression criteria. Journal, source of funding, sample size, intervention type, and having a primary outcome related to feasibility were not significantly associated with reporting progression criteria.

Conclusion

Progression criteria are not often explicitly stated in protocols of pilot trials leaving room for varied interpretation of findings. The development of formal guidance for progression criteria in protocols of pilot trials is warranted.

Reporting Quality of Journal Abstracts for Surgical Randomized Controlled Trials Before and After the Implementation of the CONSORT Extension for Abstracts

BACKGROUND

Adequate reporting is crucial in full-text publications but even more so in abstracts because they are the most frequently read part of a publication. In 2008, an extension for abstracts of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT-A) statement was published, defining which items should be reported in abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Therefore, we compared the adherence of RCT abstracts to CONSORT-A before and after the publication of CONSORT-A.

METHODS

RCTs published in the five surgical journals with the highest impact factor were identified through PubMed for 2005-2007 and 2014-2016. Adherence to 15 CONSORT-A items and two additional items for abstracts of non-pharmacological trials was assessed in duplicate. We compared the overall adherence to CONSORT-A between the two time periods using an unpaired t test and explored adherence to specific items.

RESULTS

A total of 192 and 164 surgical RCT abstracts were assessed (2005-2007 and 2014-2016, respectively). In the pre-CONSORT-A phase, the mean score of adequately reported items was 6.14 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.90-6.38) and 8.11 in the post-CONSORT-A phase (95% CI 7.83-8.39; mean difference 1.97, 95% CI 1.60-2.34; p < 0.0001). The comparison of individual items indicated a significant improvement in 9 of the 15 items. The three least reported items in the post-CONSORT-A phase were randomization (2.4%), blinding (13.4%), and funding (0.0%). Specific items for non-pharmacological trials were rarely reported (approximately 10%).

CONCLUSION

The reporting in abstracts of surgical RCTs has improved after the implementation of CONSORT-A. More importantly, there is still ample room for improvement.

Reporting quality of randomised controlled trial abstracts presented at the SLEEP Annual Meetings: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the reporting quality of randomised controlled trial (RCT) abstracts presented at a leading international conference in sleep medicine (the SLEEP Annual Meeting), and to investigate the association between potential predictors and the reporting quality of trial abstracts in this field.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional, research on research study.

METHODS

A handsearch of the 2016-2018 SLEEP Annual Meeting abstract books was carried out to identify abstracts describing RCTs. Quality of reporting was assessed with the original 17-item CONSORT for Abstracts checklist. Univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to identify significant predictors of reporting quality. In addition, risk ratios were used to analyse the adequate reporting rate of each quality item by type of intervention and funding status.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The overall quality score (OQS, range 0-17) in accordance with the CONSORT for Abstracts checklist (primary outcome), and the adequate reporting rate of each checklist item (secondary outcome).

RESULTS

A total of 176 RCT abstracts were included and assessed. The mean OQS was 5.53 (95% CI 5.30 to 5.76). Only three quality items (objective, conclusions and funding) were adequately reported in most abstracts (>75%). None of the abstracts adequately reported authors, randomisation or outcome in the results section. According to the multivariable analysis, pharmacological interventions (p=0.018) and funding from the industry (p=0.025) were significantly associated with better reporting quality.

CONCLUSIONS

The reporting quality of RCT abstracts presented at SLEEP Annual Meetings was suboptimal. Pharmacological intervention and funding from industry were significant predictors of better reporting quality. Joint efforts by authors and conference committees are needed to enhance the reporting quality of RCT abstracts presented at sleep medicine conferences, and thereby reduce relevant research waste in this field.

A methodological survey on reporting of pilot and feasibility trials for physiotherapy interventions: a study protocol

INTRODUCTION

Pilot and feasibility trials aim to test whether a full trial can be conducted or if any procedures must be changed for the full trial. Pilot trials must be reported in a transparent, accurate and complete way. In this report, we present a protocol for a methodological survey with the following aims: (1) to determine the percentage of physiotherapy trial reports which claim to be pilot or feasibility trials that evaluate feasibility, (2) to determine the aspect of feasibility evaluated in the primary objectives of the pilot or feasibility trials, (3) to describe the completeness of reporting of abstracts and full articles of pilot or feasibility trials using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) extension to randomised pilot and feasibility trials and (4) to investigate factors associated with completeness of reporting of pilot or feasibility trials.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Reports of randomised controlled trials indexed in the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) that claim to be pilot or feasibility trials and published in 2011-2017 will be included. Two independent reviewers will confirm eligibility and classify the aspect of feasibility being evaluated in the objectives of the included pilot or feasibility trials. Completeness of reporting of both the abstract and the full article will be evaluated using the CONSORT extension to randomised pilot and feasibility trials. The primary analysis will be a descriptive analysis about the reporting quality of abstracts and full texts of pilot and feasibility trials. We will use generalised estimating equation analysis to explore factors associated with completeness of reporting.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The results of this study will be disseminated by presentation at conferences and will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Ethical approval is not necessary for this study.

Reporting quality of randomized controlled trial abstracts in the seven highest-ranking anesthesiology journals

Background

The aim of this study was to assess adherence to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) extension for Abstracts (CONSORT-A) in the highest-impact anesthesiology journals.

Methods

This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, methodological study. We analyzed whether abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the highest-impact anesthesiology journals between 2014 and 2016 adhered with CONSORT-A. RCT abstracts published in the seven first-quartile journals in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) category Anesthesiology were analyzed. The primary outcome was adherence to the 17-item CONSORT-A checklist. Secondary outcomes were adherence to individual checklist items and adherence with the checklist across the individual journals.

Results

Search results yielded 688 records, of which 622 abstracts were analyzed. Analysis of the total score of the CONSORT-A checklist indicated a per-article median of 41% (interquartile range 35–53%). The European Journal of Anesthesiology had the highest overall adherence rate (53%), whereas Anaesthesia had the lowest (32%). The lowest adherence was observed for the following items: Trial design (18%), Contact of the authors as an e-mail address of the corresponding author (16%), Recruitment status (9%), Number of participants analyzed (8%), Randomization (3%), and Funding (0.2%).

Conclusions

RCT abstracts published in top anesthesiology journals are poorly reported, providing insufficient information to readers. Interventions are needed to increase adherence to relevant reporting checklists for writing RCT abstracts.