Author/Authors :
Janjua, Naveed Zafar University of British Columbia - British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, School of Population and Public Health, Canada , Bhatti, Junaid Ahmad McGill University - Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Canada , Bhatti, Junaid Ahmad Aga Khan University - Department of Emergency Medicine, Pakistan , Rizwan, Faiza McGill University - Department of Family Medicine, Canada.
Abstract :
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard for evaluation of healthcare interventions. Biases introduced by inadequate methods, however, affect rigor of evidence from RCTs. Thus, a complete and transparent reporting of methods and results is needed to help readers to evaluate the quality of evidence from RCTs. Results section is the most important part of the manuscript reporting findings from an RCT where the effect of an intervention on outcomes is presented along with necessary information needed for interpretation of results. CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials)statement provides a framework of essential elements for reporting of RCT. Recent reviews assessing quality of reporting of RCTs have suggested that although CONSORT statement has improved reporting consistency, not all published papers adhere to reporting standards and completeness of reporting is suboptimal.
