Perspectives on the application of CONSORT guidelines to randomised controlled trials in nutrition.

Publisher: Steinkopff Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 100888704 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1436-6215 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14366207 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Eur J Nutr Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Darmstadt, Germany : Steinkopff, 1999-

Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic* ; Research Design*; Nutritional Status ; Guidelines as Topic

Purpose: Reporting guidelines facilitate quality and completeness in research reporting. The CONsolidated Standards Of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement is widely applied to dietary and nutrition trials but has no extension specific to nutrition. Evidence suggests poor reporting in nutrition research. The Federation of European Nutrition Societies led an initiative to make recommendations for a nutrition extension to the CONSORT statement towards a more robust reporting of the evidence base.
Methods: An international working group was formed of nutrition researchers from 14 institutions in 12 different countries and on five continents. Using meetings over a period of one year, we interrogated the CONSORT statement specifically for its application to report nutrition trials.
Results: We provide a total of 28 new nutrition-specific recommendations or emphasised recommendations for the reporting of the introduction (three), methods (twelve), results (five) and discussion (eight). We also added two additional recommendations that were not allocated under the standard CONSORT headings.
Conclusion: We identify a need to provide guidance in addition to CONSORT to improve the quality and consistency of the reporting and propose key considerations for further development of formal guidelines for the reporting of nutrition trials. Readers are encouraged to engage in this process, provide comments and conduct specific studies to inform further work on the development of reporting guidelines for nutrition trials.
(© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

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Keywords: CONSORT; Dietary interventions; Expert opinion; Guidelines; Nutrition trials; Reporting

Date Created: 20230426 Date Completed: 20230727 Latest Revision: 20230727

20231215

10.1007/s00394-023-03137-5

37099211