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Controlled trials in children: quantity, methodological quality and descriptive characteristics of pediatric controlled trials published 1948-2006
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 5, Iss 9, p e744 (2010), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2010.
-
Abstract
- Background The objective of this study was to describe randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials (CCTs) in child health published between 1948 and 2006, in terms of quantity, methodological quality, and publication and trial characteristics. We used the Trials Register of the Cochrane Child Health Field for overall trends and a sample from this to explore trial characteristics in more detail. Methodology/Principal Findings We extracted descriptive data on a random sample of 578 trials. Ninety-six percent of the trials were published in English; the percentage of child-only trials was 90.5%. The most frequent diagnostic categories were infectious diseases (13.2%), behavioural and psychiatric disorders (11.6%), neonatal critical care (11.4%), respiratory disorders (8.9%), non-critical neonatology (7.9%), and anaesthesia (6.5%). There were significantly fewer child-only studies (i.e., more mixed child and adult studies) over time (P = 0.0460). The proportion of RCTs to CCTs increased significantly over time (P
- Subjects :
- Non-Clinical Medicine/Research Methods
Male
Pediatrics
medicine.medical_specialty
Blinding
Adolescent
MEDLINE
Pediatrics and Child Health
lcsh:Medicine
law.invention
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Randomized controlled trial
law
030225 pediatrics
Medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Child
lcsh:Science
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Multidisciplinary
Descriptive statistics
business.industry
Publications
lcsh:R
Jadad scale
3. Good health
Clinical trial
Systematic review
Sample size determination
Child, Preschool
Female
lcsh:Q
Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic
business
Evidence-Based Healthcare/Statistical Methodologies and Health Informatics
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 5
- Issue :
- 9
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....bac05a93ef5427fcf079dc9284ad624b