当前位置： SCI文献检索 > BRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY期刊下所有文献 > Trends in the methodological quality of published randomized controlled trials on antibacterial agents.

Trends in the methodological quality of published randomized controlled trials on antibacterial agents.

Abstract：

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT:Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are believed to be one of the best methods of clinical research because they can minimize systematic errors of various types. Temporal trends in the various aspects of RCTs have been studied in several medical fields (e.g. nephrology, hepatology, oncology). However, there is lack of data regarding the trends in the methodological quality of RCTs focusing on antimicrobial agents. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:Several important methodological aspects of RCTs on antibacterial agents, such as description of randomization, double blinding, description of the blinding and allocation concealment, have not improved during the last 30 years. AIM To investigate the trends of the methodological quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of antimicrobial agents published during the last 30 years. METHODS:We randomly selected from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials database 70 RCTs of antibacterial agents that were published during a 30-year study period (1975-2005); specifically, we randomly selected 10 RCTs published during each of the following years: 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005. In each of the selected RCTs, we searched for information on various methodological aspects and graded the methodological quality of the RCTs to evaluate trends for possible improvement. RESULTS:No improvement was noted in most of the analysed methodological aspects of the RCTs during the 30-year study period. Description of randomization, double blinding, description of the blinding, and allocation concealment were rather scarce among the evaluated RCTs, without observing a trend for improvement during the study period. We noted improvement in reporting power of the study calculations, baseline data as well as in reporting the presence or not of statistical significance and the statistical cut-off of significance. In only 1/70 RCTs were all 13 of the examined methodological quality aspects met and in one more RCT 12 of them were met. CONCLUSIONS:We did not observe considerable improvement in the quality of the reporting and methodology of RCTs on antibacterial agents during the last 30 years. The methodological quality aspects that need most improvement are those that help safeguard against various types of biases.

journal_name

Br J Clin Pharmacol

journal_title

British journal of clinical pharmacology

authors

Falagas ME,Pitsouni EI,Bliziotis IA

doi

10.1111/j.1365-2125.2008.03108.x

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2008-06-01 00:00:00

pages

942-54

issue

eissn

0306-5251

issn

1365-2125

pii

BCP3108

journal_volume

pub_type

杂志文章

在线工具

Trends in the methodological quality of published randomized controlled trials on antibacterial agents.