Reporting of flow diagrams in randomised controlled trials published in periodontology and implantology: a survey
Open accessAbstract
Background: Item 13 of the CONSORT guidelines recommends documentation of the participant flow in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) using a diagram. In the medical literature, the reporting of the flow of participants in RCTs has been assessed to be inadequate. The quality of reporting flow diagrams in periodontology and implantology remains unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the reporting of flow diagrams in RCTs published in periodontology and implantology journals. Materials and Methods: RCTs published between 15 th January 2018 and 15 th January 2022 in twelve high-ranked periodontology and implantology journals were identified. Trial characteristics at the RCT level were extracted. The flow diagram included in each RCT was assessed for completeness of reporting in relation to published criteria and the CONSORT flow diagram template. Results: From the 544 eligible articles, 85% were single-centre, 82% of parallel-group design and 79% investigated surgical interventions. Three-hundred and fifteen (58%) articles were published in CONSORT endorsing journals. A flow diagram was reported in 317 (58%) trials and reporting was more common in periodontology (73.1%). Overall, 56% of publications with a flow diagram reported a complete CONSORT flow diagram, while in 44% of flow diagrams, at least one point from the CONSORT reporting template was missing. Reasons for loss to follow-up (69.7%) and exclusions from the RCT analysis (86.4%) were poorly reported. Conclusion: The reporting of flow diagrams in periodontology and implantology RCTs was sub-optimal. Greater awareness of the importance of fully completing the participant CONSORT flow diagram is required.
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Reviews have found that adherence to CONSORT guidelines remains incomplete across various domains of dentistry.
“However, reviews have found that adherence to the guidelines remains incomplete across various domains of dentistry (Meyer et al. 2023; Sarkis-Onofre et al. 2019).”
From Adherence to the CONSORT statement of randomized clinical trials on dentin hypersensitivity treatment using mouthwashes (2025) · cites this paper as Meyer et al. 2023
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Endorsement of open science practices by dental journals: A meta-research study
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“However, reviews have found that adherence to the guidelines remains incomplete across various domains of dentistry (Meyer et al. 2023; Sarkis-Onofre et al. 2019).”
- Authors
- Meyer, H.-G. J., Pandis, N., Seehra, J., & Faggion, C. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Münster (DE)
- University of Bern (CH)
- Guy's Hospital (GB)
- Venue
- BMC Medical Research Methodology
- Published
- 2023-04-27
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 105-105
- ISSN
- 1471-2288 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10134555
- OpenAlex
- W4367320797
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 0.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Medical Research Methodology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- BORIS (University Library Bern) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Universitätsklinikum Münster
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Clinical practice guidelines implementation
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Academic Publishing and Open Access
- Keywords
- CONSORT flow diagram, reporting quality, randomized controlled trials, periodontics, implant dentistry, loss to follow-up, participant flow, CONSORT guidelines
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Publications, Surveys and Questionnaires, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
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