Risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care: protocol for a systematic review

Introduction Burn care represents a healthcare and economic burden to patients internationally. Choice of the most clinically effective treatment strategies requires evidence which is best obtained through high-quality randomised controlled trials (RCT). The number of published RCTs of burn care is...

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Main Authors: Barnaby C Reeves, Jane Blazeby, Anna Davies, Amber Young, Hung-Yuan Cheng, Jason Wasiak, Duncan Muir
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2019-12-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/12/e033472.full
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author Barnaby C Reeves
Jane Blazeby
Anna Davies
Amber Young
Hung-Yuan Cheng
Jason Wasiak
Duncan Muir
author_facet Barnaby C Reeves
Jane Blazeby
Anna Davies
Amber Young
Hung-Yuan Cheng
Jason Wasiak
Duncan Muir
author_sort Barnaby C Reeves
collection DOAJ
description Introduction Burn care represents a healthcare and economic burden to patients internationally. Choice of the most clinically effective treatment strategies requires evidence which is best obtained through high-quality randomised controlled trials (RCT). The number of published RCTs of burn care is increasing. However, trial quality and reporting standards are unclear. This study will assess the risk of bias and adequacy of reporting in recent burn care RCTs using tools endorsed by the Cochrane Collaboration.Methods and analysis A systematic literature review will be undertaken, assessing parallel group RCTs evaluating therapeutic interventions for patients with cutaneous burns. Literature searches will use Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. Separate searches for each database will include medical subject heading and free text terms including ‘burn’, ‘scald’, ‘thermal injury’ and ‘RCT’. Two reviewers will independently assess each study for inclusion. Risk of bias (RoB) will be assessed with the revised tool (RoB 2) and reporting completeness with the CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) 2010 guidelines. We will report a narrative synthesis of all studies, including domain specific, and overall risk of bias for the primary outcome of each trial. Inter-rater agreement for RoB 2 will be reported using Fleiss’s Kappa. For adherence to the CONSORT guidelines, we will generate a completeness of reporting index for the five domains.Ethics and dissemination No ethics approval is required because published documents will be used. Findings of the study will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences.PROSPERO registration number CRD42018111020.
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spelling doaj-art-71e07d9df45f45f9a2fbef6cbb6830582025-08-20T02:38:49ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552019-12-0191210.1136/bmjopen-2019-033472Risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care: protocol for a systematic reviewBarnaby C Reeves0Jane Blazeby1Anna Davies2Amber Young3Hung-Yuan Cheng4Jason Wasiak5Duncan Muir6professorial research fellow2 Division of Surgery, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK2 Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Academic Child Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKPaediatric Anaesthesia, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UKOlivia Newton John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre, Department of Radiation Oncology, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, AustraliaPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKIntroduction Burn care represents a healthcare and economic burden to patients internationally. Choice of the most clinically effective treatment strategies requires evidence which is best obtained through high-quality randomised controlled trials (RCT). The number of published RCTs of burn care is increasing. However, trial quality and reporting standards are unclear. This study will assess the risk of bias and adequacy of reporting in recent burn care RCTs using tools endorsed by the Cochrane Collaboration.Methods and analysis A systematic literature review will be undertaken, assessing parallel group RCTs evaluating therapeutic interventions for patients with cutaneous burns. Literature searches will use Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. Separate searches for each database will include medical subject heading and free text terms including ‘burn’, ‘scald’, ‘thermal injury’ and ‘RCT’. Two reviewers will independently assess each study for inclusion. Risk of bias (RoB) will be assessed with the revised tool (RoB 2) and reporting completeness with the CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) 2010 guidelines. We will report a narrative synthesis of all studies, including domain specific, and overall risk of bias for the primary outcome of each trial. Inter-rater agreement for RoB 2 will be reported using Fleiss’s Kappa. For adherence to the CONSORT guidelines, we will generate a completeness of reporting index for the five domains.Ethics and dissemination No ethics approval is required because published documents will be used. Findings of the study will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences.PROSPERO registration number CRD42018111020.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/12/e033472.full
spellingShingle Barnaby C Reeves
Jane Blazeby
Anna Davies
Amber Young
Hung-Yuan Cheng
Jason Wasiak
Duncan Muir
Risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care: protocol for a systematic review
BMJ Open
title Risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care: protocol for a systematic review
title_full Risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care: protocol for a systematic review
title_fullStr Risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care: protocol for a systematic review
title_full_unstemmed Risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care: protocol for a systematic review
title_short Risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care: protocol for a systematic review
title_sort risk of bias and reporting completeness of randomised controlled trials in burn care protocol for a systematic review
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/12/e033472.full
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