Quality of Reporting on Randomised Controlled Trials of Auriculotherapy for Pain

Abstract

Objective The authors investigated the quality of reporting for randomised controlled trials of auriculotherapy for pain before and after the implementation of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) and Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) guidelines. Methods The authors identifi ed randomised controlled trials of auriculotherapy that measured pain or pain medication use as a primary outcome and were published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Proportions of studies that reported STRICTA and CONSORT items were compared for the years before and after implementation of STRICTA (2001) using Fisher's exact tests. Global differences across all study factors were investigated using hierarchical clustering and principle component analysis (PCA). Results 15 studies met our inclusion criteria. On average, 11 studies (74%) reported STRICTA items and eight studies (54%) reported CONSORT items. Differences in reporting between pre and post-STRICTA studies were found for two CONSORT items (randomised sequence and treatment provider) but no STRICTA items. However, the results of cluster analysis and PCA detected global differences over time for both STRICTA and CONSORT items. Conclusion Quality of reporting for studies of auriculotherapy for pain appears to have generally improved since the implementation of STRICTA and CONSORT guidelines. INTRODUCTIONThe quality of reporting for acupuncture studies has improved over time, 1 2 especially since the implementation of the Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) guidelines in 2001, 3 intimating a concomitant improvement in the overall design and conduct of acupuncture clinical trials. Auriculotherapy is a related but distinct acupuncture fi eld to traditional full-body acupuncture. Although we expect recent studies of auriculotherapy to follow similar trends in quality of reporting to fullbody acupuncture, we are not aware of any studies that have examined the quality of reporting for trials of auriculotherapy.We recently conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled studies of auriculotherapy for treatment of pain. 4 Seventeen studies met inclusion criteria and were included in the fi nal publication. Using data extracted from the systematic review, we describe the quality of reporting for auriculotherapy trials. Since the included studies span across the years that the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines and its extension for trials of acupuncture (STRICTA) were introduced, we examined how the implementation of these guidelines may have infl uenced the reporting of auriculotherapy trials. METHODS Data collectionWe previously conducted a systematic literature review of randomised controlled studies of auriculotherapy for treatment of pain. (1) were randomised; (2) compared auriculotherapy to sham auriculotherapy, standard medical care or waiting-list control; (3) measured the effect on pain or medication u...

Quality of reporting on randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation

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