Subject(s)
Biomedical Research , Complementary Therapies , Integrative Medicine , Evidence-Based Practice , Female , HumansABSTRACT
When homeopathy is tested in clinical trials, understanding and appraisal is likely to be improved if published reports contain details of prescribing strategies and treatments. An international Delphi panel was convened to develop consensus guidelines for reporting homeopathic methods and treatments. The panel agreed on 28 treatment- and provider-specific items that supplement the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Statement items 2, 3, 4, and 19. The authors recommend these for adoption by authors and journals when reporting trials of homeopathy.
Subject(s)
Consensus , Homeopathy/standards , Phytotherapy/standards , Publishing/standards , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic/standards , Delphi Technique , Guidelines as Topic , Humans , Peer Review, Research , Quality Control , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic/methods , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
Acupuncture treatment and control group interventions in parallel-group randomized trials of acupuncture are not always precisely reported. In an attempt to improve standards, an international group of experienced acupuncturists and researchers devised a set of recommendations, designating them STRICTA: STandards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture. In a further consensus-building round, the editors of several journals helped redraft the recommendations. These follow the Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT) format, acting as an extension of the CONSORT guidelines for the specific requirements of acupuncture studies. Participating journals are publishing the STRICTA recommendations and requesting prospective authors to adhere to them when preparing reports for publication. Other journals are invited to adopt these recommendations. The intended outcome is that interventions in controlled trials of acupuncture will be more adequately reported, thereby facilitating an improvement in critical appraisal, analysis and replication of trials.
