Standards to improve the reporting of clinical trials in acupuncture
- Correspondence to Dr Sally Hopewell, Centre for Statistics in Medicine, University of Oxford, Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD, UK; sally.hopewell{at}csm.ox.ac.uk
Transparent and clear reporting of research is important to enable readers to understand how a trial is conducted and to assess the validity and reliability of the trial findings. Failure to adequately report research findings distorts the reality of how the research was conducted, it prevents clinicians from applying effective interventions and it results in considerable amounts of money invested in health research being wasted.1
This issue of Acupuncture in Medicine sees the publication of a new extension to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement for reporting clinical trials of acupuncture (see page 83).2 The Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) guidelines, first published in 2001, are designed to improve the completeness and transparency of reporting interventions in trials of acupuncture. It aims to ensure that acupuncture trials are more accurately interpreted …
