Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are routinely used in systematic reviews and meta-analyses that\r\nhelp inform healthcare and policy decision making. The proper reporting of RCTs is important because it acts as a\r\nproxy for health care providers and researchers to appraise the quality of the methodology, conduct and analysis of\r\nan RCT. The aims of this study are to analyse the overall quality of reporting in 23 RCTs that were used in a metaanalysis\r\nby assessing 3 key methodological items, and to determine factors associated with high quality of\r\nreporting. It is hypothesized that studies with larger sample sizes, that have funding reported, that are published in\r\njournals with a higher impact factor and that are in journals that have adopted or endorsed the CONSORT\r\nstatement will be associated with better overall quality of reporting and reporting of key methodological items.\r\nMethods: We systematically reviewed RCTs used within an anesthesiology related post-operative pain management\r\nmeta-analysis. We included all of the 23 RCTs used, all of which were parallel design that addressed the use of\r\nfemoral nerve block in improving outcomes after total knee arthroplasty. Data abstraction was done independently\r\nby two reviewers. The two main outcomes were: 1) 15 point overall quality of reporting score (OQRS) based on the\r\nConsolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT) and 2) 3 point key methodological item score (KMIS) based\r\non allocation concealment, blinding and intention-to-treat analysis.\r\nResults: Twenty-three RCTs were included. The median OQRS was 9.0 (Interquartile Range = 3). A multivariable\r\nregression analysis did not show any significant association between OQRS or KMIS and our four predictor\r\nvariables hypothesized to improve reporting. The direction and magnitude of our results when compared to\r\nsimilar studies suggest that the sample size and impact factor are associated with improved key\r\nmethodological item reporting.\r\nConclusions: The quality of reporting of RCTs used within an anesthesia related meta-analysis is poor to moderate.\r\nThe information gained from this study should be used by journals to register the urgency for RCTs to be clear\r\nand transparent in reporting to help make literature accessible and comparable.
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