Table 3 Reporting quality of key methodological items (n = 63)
Item | Criteria | Description | Number of positive trials | % | Cohen’s к coefficient | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | Randomization | Description of the method used to generate the random sequence | 19 | 30 | 0.79 | 0.63 to 0.95 |
9 and 10 | Allocation concealment and implementation | Description of the method used to implement the random allocation sequence assuring the concealment until interventions are assigned | 2 | 3 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
11 | Blinding | Whether or not participants, those administering the interventions, or those assessing the outcomes were blinded to group assignment | 6 | 10 | 0.91 | 0.75 to 1.08 |
15 | Baseline data | An outline of baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of each group | 13 | 21 | 0.68 | 0.47 to 0.89 |
16 | Intent-to-treat analysis | No. of participants in each group included in each analysis and whether it was done by “intention to treat” | 5 | 8 | 0.82 | 0.57 to 1.07 |