Table 1 Characteristics of the 170 included randomised controlled trials (RCTs); 142 published trials and 28 protocols registered on ClinicalTrial.gov
Characteristics (/170 RCT) | |
|---|---|
Population, 143 RCTs, n (%) | |
Medical | 21 (15) |
Surgical | 34 (23) |
Both | 88 (62) |
Design, 170 RCTs, n (%) | |
Parallel-group RCT | 155 (91) |
Cross-over RCT | 7 (4) |
Factorial-designed RCT | 5 (3) |
Cluster-designed RCT | 3 (2) |
Blinding, 170 RCTs, n (%) | |
None | 68 (40) |
Blindinga | 102 (60) |
of the patients | 88 (86) |
of the staff | 78 (76) |
of the outcome assessors | 88 (86) |
Funding, 170 RCTs, n (%) | |
Industry | 22 (13) |
Public | 61 (36) |
Both | 48 (28) |
Not reported | 39 (23) |
Recruitment, 167 RCTs, n (%) | |
Single-centre | 113 (68) |
Multicentre | 54 (32) |
National | 44 (81) |
International | 10 (19) |
Geographic regionb, 167 RCTs, n (%) | |
Europe | 89 (53) |
America | 48 (29) |
Oceania | 20 (12) |
Asia | 17 (10) |
Number of randomised patients per RCT and per year, median [25th–75th percentiles] | |
2000 (n = 183 patients) | 30 [20–37] |
2005 (n = 836 patients) | 53 [40–60] |
2010 (n = 1087 patients) | 43 [32–104] |
2015 (n = 378 patients) | 88 [62–127] |
2018 (n = 2534 patients) | 1267 [124–2410] |