P value and Bayesian analysis in randomized-controlled trials in child health research published over 10 years, 2007 to 2017: a methodological review protocol

Assessment of Usefulness of Randomized Control Trials in Child Health Research Published in 2007 and 2017

OBJECTIVE

To examine how clinical usefulness in pediatric research with randomized controlled trials (RCTs) has changed over a 10-year period via a research usefulness tool composed of unique clinical usefulness criteria.

STUDY DESIGN

We leveraged a pre-existing sample of child health RCTs published in 2007, used by our team in a previous study. Using the same methods, a research librarian executed a literature search in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for the 2017 cohort. We included the first 300 eligible citations from the randomly ordered list for each year, creating two cohorts of 300 publications each, 1 in 2007 and 1 in 2017. Each publication was analyzed and data regarding primary and secondary outcomes, as well as 11 unique criteria of clinical usefulness, were extracted. Each publication was then graded using a tool created by our research team. After quality review, statistical analysis was then performed.

RESULTS

Six hundred pediatric RCT publications were included in this review. The mean score increased from 6.07 in 2007 to 9.20 in 2017 (P < .001). Usefulness factors that saw the largest increase in reporting were context placement, funding statements, and conflict of interest statements, while patient centeredness, value for money, and raw data availability remained infrequently reported.

CONCLUSION

Our results demonstrate that clinical usefulness of pediatric research improved over this 10-year period, but there are still areas that need a great deal of improvement in order to maximize clinical usefulness and reduce research waste.

A Decade of Efforts to Add Value to Child Health Research Practices

OBJECTIVE

To identify practices that add value to improve the design, conduct, and reporting of child health research and reduce research waste.

STUDY DESIGN

In order to categorize the contributions of members of Standards for Research (StaR) in Child Health network, we developed a novel Child Health Improving Research Practices (CHIRP) framework comprised of 5 domains meant to counteract avoidable child health research waste and improve quality: 1) address research questions relevant to children, their families, clinicians, and researchers; 2) apply appropriate research design, conduct and analysis; 3) ensure efficient research oversight and regulation; 4) Provide accessible research protocols and reports; and 5) develop unbiased and usable research reports, including 17 responsible research practice recommendations. All child health research relevant publications by the 48 original StaR standards' authors over the last decade were identified, and main topic areas were categorized using this framework.

RESULTS

A total of 247 publications were included in the final sample: 100 publications (41%) in domain 1 (3 recommendations), 77 publications (31%) in domain 2 (3), 35 publications (14%) in domain 3 (4), 20 publications (8%) in domain 4 (4), and 15 publications (6%) in domain 5 (3). We identified readily implementable "responsible" research practices to counter child health research waste and improve quality, especially in the areas of patients and families' engagement throughout the research process, developing Core Outcome Sets, and addressing ethics and regulatory oversight issues.

CONCLUSION

While most of the practices are readily implementable, increased awareness of methodological issues and wider guideline uptake is needed to improve child health research. The CHIRP Framework can be used to guide responsible research practices that add value to child health research.