Completeness of reporting in abstracts of randomized controlled trials in subscription and open access journals: cross-sectional study

Reporting quality of abstracts and inconsistencies with full text articles in pediatric orthopedic publications

BACKGROUND

Abstracts should provide a brief yet comprehensive reporting of all components of a manuscript. Inaccurate reporting may mislead readers and impact citation practices. It was our goal to investigate the reporting quality of abstracts of interventional observational studies in three major pediatric orthopedic journals and to analyze any reporting inconsistencies between those abstracts and their corresponding full-text articles.

METHODS

We selected a sample of 55 abstracts and their full-text articles published between 2018 and 2022. Included articles were primary therapeutic research investigating the results of treatments or interventions. Abstracts were scrutinized for reporting quality and inconsistencies with their full-text versions with a 22-itemized checklist. The reporting quality of titles was assessed by a 3-items categorical scale.

RESULTS

In 48 (87%) of articles there were abstract reporting inaccuracies related to patient demographics. The study's follow-up and complications were not reported in 21 (38%) of abstracts each. Most common inconsistencies between the abstracts and full-text articles were related to reporting of inclusion or exclusion criteria in 39 (71%) and study correlations in 27 (49%) of articles. Reporting quality of the titles was insufficient in 33 (60%) of articles.

CONCLUSIONS

In our study we found low reporting quality of abstracts and noticeable inconsistencies with full-text articles, especially regarding inclusion or exclusion criteria and study correlations. While the current sample is likely not representative of overall pediatric orthopedic literature, we recommend that authors, reviewers, and editors ensure abstracts are reported accurately, ideally following the appropriate reporting guidelines, and that they double check that there are no inconsistencies between abstracts and full text articles. To capture essential study information, journals should also consider increasing abstract word limits.

Evaluating the completeness of the reporting of abstracts since the publication of the CONSORT extension for abstracts: an evaluation of randomized controlled trial in ten nursing journals

BACKGROUND

As a practice-oriented discipline, strict adherence to reporting guidelines is particularly important in randomized controlled trial (RCT) abstracts of the nursing area. However, whether abstract reports after 2010 have complied with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials for Abstracts (CONSORT-A) guideline is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate whether the publication of CONSORT-A has improved abstract reporting in nursing and explores the factors associated with better adherence to the guidelines.

METHODS

We searched the Web of Science for 200 RCTs randomly selected from ten nursing journals. We used a data extraction form based on CONSORT-A, including 16 items, to analyze the reporting adherence to the guidelines, and the reporting rate of each item and the total score for each abstract were used to indicate adherence and overall quality score (OQS, range 0-16). A comparison of the total mean score between the two periods was made, and affecting factors were analyzed.

RESULTS

In the studies we included, 48 abstracts were published pre-CONSORT-A whereas 152 post-CONSORT-A. The overall mean score for reporting adherence to 16 items was 7.41 ± 2.78 and 9.16 ± 2.76 for pre- and post-CONSORT-A, respectively (total score: 16). The most poorly reported items are "harms (0%)," "outcomes in method (8.5%)," "randomization (25%)," and "blinding (6.5%)." Items including the year of publication, impact factor, multiple center trial, word count, and structured abstract are significantly associated with higher adherence.

CONCLUSIONS

The adherence to abstract reporting in nursing literature has improved since the CONSORT-A era, but the overall completeness of RCT abstracts remained low. A joint effort by authors, editors, and journals is necessary to improve reporting quality of RCT abstracts.

The evaluation of reporting of patient-reported outcomes in MDD: A meta-epidemiological study of clinical trials

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a multifaceted disease that profoundly affects quality of life. Patient reported outcomes (PROs) are used in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to better understand patient perspectives on interventions. Therefore, we sought to assess the completeness of reporting PROs in RCTs addressing MDD. We identified RCTs evaluating MDD containing a PRO measure published between 2016 and 2020 from MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Inclusion of studies was performed in duplicate. The completion of reporting of RCTs was assessed using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT-PRO) adaptation. Bivariate regression analyses were used to evaluate reporting completeness and trial characteristics. A total of 49 RCTs were included in our analysis, with a mean CONSORT-PRO completion score of 56.7% (SD = 17.3).Our findings show a significant association with completeness of reporting and the following: secondary PRO trials were less completely reported as compared to primary PRO trials (t = -3.19, p = .003); studies with a follow-up period between six months and year were more completely reported as compared to three months or less (6 months to a year, t = 2.34, p = .024); and increased trial sample size was associated with more completeness of reporting (t = 3.17, p = .003). As compared to brain stimulation, the intervention types classified as combination, other, and psychotherapy had greater completeness of reporting (combination, t = 2.35, p = .024; other, t = 3.13, p = .003; psychotherapy, t = 3.41, p = .001). There were no other significant findings. Our study found the completeness of PRO reporting to be inconsistent in RCTs regarding MDD. Moreover, we advocate for the need to establish a core outcome set relevant to the management of adults diagnosed with MDD and facilitate training on the application of PRO data.