Abstract
Well-designed and properly executed randomized controlled trials provide the most reliable evidence on the efficacy of healthcare interventions. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the quality of reporting of randomized trials is not always optimal. Without transparent reporting, readers cannot judge the reliability and validity of trial findings nor extract information for systematic reviews. Trials with inadequate methods are also associated with bias, especially exaggerated treatment effects (Savovic et al. 2012; Wood et al. 2008). Critical appraisal of the quality of clinical trials is only possible if the design, conduct, and analysis of randomized trials are thoroughly and accurately reported. The CONSORT (CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement is comprised of a checklist of essential items that should be included in reports of randomized controlled trials and a diagram documenting the flow of participants through a trial. The objective of CONSORT is to provide guidance to authors about how to improve the reporting of their trials and ensure trial reports are clear, complete, and transparent (Moher et al. 2010a; Schulz et al. 2010a). Readers, peer reviewers, and editors can also use CONSORT to help them interpret the reports of randomized trials. CONSORT is not meant to be used as a quality assessment instrument, rather, the content of CONSORT relates to the internal and external validity of trials. Many items not explicitly mentioned in CONSORT may also be included in a report, such as information about approval by an ethics committee, informed consent from participants, and, where relevant, existence of a data and safety monitoring committee. The CONSORT statement thus addresses the minimum trial reporting criteria and should not deter authors from including other information they consider important (Moher et al. 2010a).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altman DG, Schulz KF, Moher D, Egger M, Davidoff F, Elbourne D et al (2001) The revised CONSORT statement for reporting randomized trials: explanation and elaboration. Ann Intern Med 134(8):663–694
Barnes C, Boutron I, Giraudeau B, Porcher R, Altman DG, Ravaud P (2015) Impact of an online writing aid tool for writing a randomized trial report: the COBWEB (Consort-based WEB tool) randomized controlled trial. BMC Med 13:221
Begg C, Cho M, Eastwood S, Horton R, Moher D, Olkin I et al (1996) Improving the quality of reporting of randomized controlled trials. The CONSORT statement. JAMA 276(8):637–639
Blanco D, Biggane AM, Cobo E (2018) Are CONSORT checklists submitted by authors adequately reflecting what information is actually reported in published papers? Trials 19(1):80
Boutron I, Altman DG, Moher D, Schulz KF, Ravaud P (2017) CONSORT statement for randomized trials of nonpharmacologic treatments: a 2017 update and a CONSORT extension for nonpharmacologic trial abstracts. Ann Intern Med 167(1):40–47
Calvert M, Blazeby J, Altman DG, Revicki DA, Moher D, Brundage MD (2013) Reporting of patient-reported outcomes in randomized trials: the CONSORT PRO extension. JAMA 309(8):814–822
Campbell MK, Piaggio G, Elbourne DR, Altman DG (2012) Consort 2010 statement: extension to cluster randomised trials. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 345:e5661
Chauvin A, Ravaud P, Baron G, Barnes C, Boutron I (2015) The most important tasks for peer reviewers evaluating a randomized controlled trial are not congruent with the tasks most often requested by journal editors. BMC Med 13:158
Chauvin A, Moher D, Altman D, Schriger DL, Alam S, Hopewell S et al (2017) A protocol of a cross-sectional study evaluating an online tool for early career peer reviewers assessing reports of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Open 7(9):e017462
Cheng CW, Wu TX, Shang HC, Li YP, Altman DG, Moher D et al (2017) CONSORT extension for Chinese herbal medicine formulas 2017: recommendations, explanation, and elaboration. Ann Intern Med 167(2):112–121
Dimairo M, Coates E, Pallmann P, Todd S, Julious SA, Jaki T et al (2018) Development process of a consensus-driven CONSORT extension for randomised trials using an adaptive design. BMC Med 16(1):210
Dwan K, Li T, Altman DG, Elbourne D (2019) CONSORT 2010 statement: extension to randomised crossover trials. BMJ (Clin Res ed) 366:l4378
Eldridge SM, Chan CL, Campbell MJ, Bond CM, Hopewell S, Thabane L et al (2016a) CONSORT 2010 statement: extension to randomised pilot and feasibility trials. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 355:i5239
Eldridge SM, Chan CL, Campbell MJ, Bond CM, Hopewell S, Thabane L et al (2016b) CONSORT 2010 statement: extension to randomised pilot and feasibility trials. Pilot Feasibility Stud 2:64
Gabriel SE, Normand SL (2012) Getting the methods right – the foundation of patient-centered outcomes research. N Engl J Med 367(9):787–790
Gagnier JJ, Boon H, Rochon P, Moher D, Barnes J, Bombardier C (2006) Reporting randomized, controlled trials of herbal interventions: an elaborated CONSORT statement. Ann Intern Med 144(5):364–367
Hopewell S, Clarke M, Moher D, Wager E, Middleton P, Altman DG et al (2008a) CONSORT for reporting randomized controlled trials in journal and conference abstracts: explanation and elaboration. PLoS Med 5(1):e20
Hopewell S, Clarke M, Moher D, Wager E, Middleton P, Altman DG et al (2008b) CONSORT for reporting randomised trials in journal and conference abstracts. Lancet (London) 371(9609):281–283
Hopewell S, Dutton S, Yu LM, Chan AW, Altman DG (2010) The quality of reports of randomised trials in 2000 and 2006: comparative study of articles indexed in PubMed. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 340:c723
Hopewell S, Hirst A, Collins GS, Mallett S, Yu LM, Altman DG (2011) Reporting of participant flow diagrams in published reports of randomized trials. Trials 12:253
Hopewell S, Ravaud P, Baron G, Boutron I (2012) Effect of editors’ implementation of CONSORT guidelines on the reporting of abstracts in high impact medical journals: interrupted time series analysis. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 344:e4178
Hopewell S, Collins GS, Boutron I, Yu LM, Cook J, Shanyinde M et al (2014) Impact of peer review on reports of randomised trials published in open peer review journals: retrospective before and after study. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 349:g4145
Hopewell S, Boutron I, Altman DG, Barbour G, Moher D, Montori V et al (2016) Impact of a web-based tool (WebCONSORT) to improve the reporting of randomised trials: results of a randomised controlled trial. BMC Med 14(1):199
Ioannidis JP, Evans SJ, Gotzsche PC, O’Neill RT, Altman DG, Schulz K et al (2004) Better reporting of harms in randomized trials: an extension of the CONSORT statement. Ann Intern Med 141(10):781–788
Juszczak EA, Altman DG, Hopewell S, Schulz K (2019) Reporting of multi-arm parallel group randomized trials: extension of the CONSORT 2010 statement. JAMA 321(16):1610–1620
Kwakkenbos L, Juszczak E, Hemkens LG, Sampson M, Frobert O, Relton C et al (2018) Protocol for the development of a CONSORT extension for RCTs using cohorts and routinely collected health data. Res Integr Peer Rev 3:9
MacPherson H, Altman DG, Hammerschlag R, You** L, Taixiang W, White A et al (2010) Revised Standards for reporting interventions in clinical trials of acupuncture (STRICTA): extending the CONSORT statement. PLoS Med 7(6):e1000261
Moher D, Schulz KF, Altman D (2001) The CONSORT statement: revised recommendations for improving the quality of reports of parallel-group randomized trials. JAMA 285(15):1987–1991
Moher D, Hopewell S, Schulz KF, Montori V, Gotzsche PC, Devereaux PJ et al (2010a) CONSORT 2010 explanation and elaboration: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 340:c869
Moher D, Hopewell S, Schulz KF, Montori V, Gotzsche PC, Devereaux PJ et al (2010b) CONSORT 2010 explanation and elaboration: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. J Clin Epidemiol 63(8):e1–e37
Montgomery P, Grant S, Mayo-Wilson E, Macdonald G, Michie S, Hopewell S et al (2018) Reporting randomised trials of social and psychological interventions: the CONSORT-SPI 2018 extension. Trials 19(1):407
Pandis N, Chung B, Scherer RW, Elbourne D, Altman DG (2017) CONSORT 2010 statement: extension checklist for reporting within person randomised trials. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 357:j2835
Piaggio G, Elbourne DR, Pocock SJ, Evans SJ, Altman DG (2012) Reporting of noninferiority and equivalence randomized trials: extension of the CONSORT 2010 statement. JAMA 308(24):2594–2604
Rennie D (1995) Reporting randomized controlled trials. An experiment and a call for responses from readers. JAMA 273(13):1054–1055
Savovic J, Jones HE, Altman DG, Harris RJ, Juni P, Pildal J et al (2012) Influence of reported study design characteristics on intervention effect estimates from randomized, controlled trials. Ann Intern Med 157(6):429–438
Schulz KM, Altman DG (2014) CONSORT [Chapter 7] published in guidelines for reporting health research: a users guide. Wiley Blackwell, Chichester
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D (2010a) CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomized trials. Ann Intern Med 152(11):726–732
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D (2010b) CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomized trials. Open Med 4(1):e60–e68
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D (2010c) CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomized trials. Obstet Gynecol 115(5):1063–1070
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D (2010d) CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. PLoS Med 7(3):e1000251
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D (2010e) CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. J Clin Epidemiol 63(8):834–840
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D (2010f) CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. BMC Med 8:18
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D (2010g) CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. Trials 11:32
Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D (2010h) CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 340:c332
Shamseer L, Hopewell S, Altman DG, Moher D, Schulz KF (2016) Update on the endorsement of CONSORT by high impact factor journals: a survey of journal “Instructions to authors” in 2014. Trials 17(1):301
The Standards of Reporting Trials Group (1994) A proposal for structured reporting of randomized controlled trials. JAMA 272(24):1926–1931
Turner L, Shamseer L, Altman DG, Schulz KF, Moher D (2012) Does use of the CONSORT statement impact the completeness of reporting of randomised controlled trials published in medical journals? A Cochrane review. Syst Rev 1:60
Vohra S et al (2016) CONSORT extension for reporting N-of-1 trials (CENT) 2015 statement. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 355:i5381
Welch VA, Norheim OF, Jull J, Cookson R, Sommerfelt H, Tugwell P (2017) CONSORT-equity 2017 extension and elaboration for better reporting of health equity in randomised trials. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 359:j5085
Wood L, Egger M, Gluud LL, Schulz KF, Juni P, Altman DG et al (2008) Empirical evidence of bias in treatment effect estimates in controlled trials with different interventions and outcomes: meta-epidemiological study. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 336(7644):601–605
Working Group on Recommendations for Reporting of Clinical Trials in the Biomedical Literature (1994) Call for comments on a proposal to improve reporting of clinical trials in the biomedical literature. Ann Intern Med 121(11):894–895
Zwarenstein M, Treweek S, Gagnier JJ, Altman DG, Tunis S, Haynes B et al (2008) Improving the reporting of pragmatic trials: an extension of the CONSORT statement. BMJ (Clin Res Ed) 337:a2390
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Additional information
Chapter dedicated to Professor Doug Altman
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Hopewell, S., Boutron, I., Moher, D. (2020). CONSORT and Its Extensions for Reporting Clinical Trials. In: Piantadosi, S., Meinert, C. (eds) Principles and Practice of Clinical Trials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52677-5_188-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52677-5_188-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-52677-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-52677-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference MathematicsReference Module Computer Science and Engineering