Assessment of adherence to the statistical components of consolidated standards of reporting trials statement for quality of reports on randomized controlled trials from five pharmacology journals

Background: The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement is a device to standardize reporting and improve the quality of controlled trials. However, little attention is paid to the statistical components in the CONSORT checklist. The present study evaluates the randomized contr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Perspectives in clinical research Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 128 - 131
Main Authors:	Satpute, Sachin, Mehta, Manthan, Bhete, Sandeep, Kurle, Dnyneshwar
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	India Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Publications 01-07-2016 Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
Subjects:	Analysis Clinical trials Consolidated standards of reporting trials Medical personnel Original Patient care Pharmacology Practice randomized controlled trials sample size statistical component Consolidated standards of reporting trials randomized controlled trials sample size statistical component
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Summary:	Background: The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement is a device to standardize reporting and improve the quality of controlled trials. However, little attention is paid to the statistical components in the CONSORT checklist. The present study evaluates the randomized controlled trials [RCTs] published in five high impact pharmacology journals with respect to its statistical methods. Methods: Randomized Controlled Trials [RCTs] published in the years 2013 & 2014 in five pharmacology journals with high impact factor, The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (JCP), British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (BJCP), European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (EJCP), Journal of Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics (JPP) and Indian Journal of Pharmacology (IJP) were assessed for adherence to the statistical components of CONSORT statement. Results: Of the 174 RCTs analysed, 103 described the method of sample size calculation. Of the five journals, maximum reports in JCP (34/50) and minimum in IJP (13/31) adhered to the CONSORT checklist [item 7a-sample size calculation]. Most reports mentioned the statistical methods used for analysis of data. (171/174) as per the checklist [item 12=statistical methods used]. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was the most commonly used test (88/174). The software used for statistical analysis was mentioned in 111 RCTs and SPSS was used more frequently (58/111). The exact p value was stated in 108 reports. Certain errors in statistical analysis were also noted (40/174). Conclusion: These findings show inconsistencies and non- adherence to the statistical components of the CONSORT statement especially with respect to sample size calculation. Special attention must be paid to the statistical accuracy of the reports.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2229-3485 2229-5488
DOI:	10.4103/2229-3485.184816