Completeness of Reporting in Abstracts of Randomized Controlled Trials Assessing Interventional Radiology for Liver Disease

Purpose: To assess the completeness of reporting in abstracts of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing interventional radiology (IR) for liver disease; to assess whether publication of the 2017 CONSORT update for nonpharmacologic treatments (NPTs) resulted in changes in abstract reporting; and to identify factors associated with better reporting.Materials and Methods: MEDLINE and Embase were searched to identify RCTs of IR for liver disease (January 2015 to September 2020). Two reviewers assessed the completeness of abstract reporting according to the CONSORT-NPT-2017update. The primary outcome was the mean number of CONSORT items completely reported among 10 items reported in <50% of the abstracts published in 2015. A time series analysis assessed the evolution trend over time. Moreover, a multivariate regression model was used to identify factors associated with better reporting.Results: A total of 107 abstracts of RCTs published in 61 journals were included. Overall, 74% (45/61) of journals endorsed the main CONSORT guidelines, of which 60% (27/45) had a policy to implement them. The mean number of primary outcome items completely reported increased by 0.19 over the study period. The publication of the CONSORT-NPT update did not lead to an increase in the trend of items reported (increase of 0.04 items/month before vs 0.02 after; P = .41). Factors associated with more complete reporting were impact factor (OR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.07-1.18) and endorsement of CONSORT with an implementation policy (OR = 8.29; 95% CI: 2.04-33.65).Conclusions: Completeness of reporting is incomplete in abstracts of trials of IR liver disease and did not improve after publication of the CONSORT-NPT-2017 update with abstract guidance.

Automated summary

The study assessed the completeness of reporting in abstracts of randomized controlled trials assessing interventional radiology for liver disease. It found that the reporting was incomplete and did not improve after the publication of the 2017 CONSORT update for nonpharmacologic treatments. Factors associated with better reporting included impact factor and endorsement of CONSORT with an implementation policy.