兰州大学循证社会科学交叉创新实验室 Innovation Laboratory of Evidence-based Social Sciences,Lanzhou University

Clinical trials in COVID-19 management & prevention: A meta-epidemiological study examining methodological quality

Kimia Honarmand
2021-07-15
Objective: To describe the characteristics of Covid-19 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and examine the association between trial characteristics and the likelihood of finding a significant effect. Study design: We conducted a systematic review to identify RCTs (up to October 21, 2020) evaluating drugs or blood products to treat or prevent Covid-19. We extracted trial characteristics (number of centers, funding sources, and sample size) and assessed risk of bias (RoB) using the Cochrane RoB 2.0 tool. We performed logistic regressions to evaluate the association between RoB due to randomization, single vs. multicentre, funding source, and sample size, and finding a statistically significant effect. Results: We included 91 RCTs (n = 46,802); 40 (44%) were single-center, 23 (25.3%) enrolled < 50 patients, 28 (30.8%) received industry funding, and 75 (82.4%) had high or probably high RoB. Thirty-eight trials (41.8%) reported a statistically significant effect. RoB due to randomization and being a single-center trial were associated with increased odds of finding a statistically significant effect. Conclusions: There is high variability in RoB among Covid-19 trials. Researchers, funders, and knowledge-users should be cognizant of the impact of RoB due to randomization and single-center trial status in designing, evaluating, and interpreting the results of RCTs. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
卷号:139|页码:68-79
ISSN:0895-4356|收录类别:SCIE
DOI
10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.07.002
EISSN
1878-5921
出版日期
2021-07-15
资助信息
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant CIHR-IRSC: 0579001321)
资助机构
加拿大卫生研究所
相关链接
https://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(21)00210-9/fulltext
语种
英文
国家
加拿大
学科领域
循证公共卫生
被引频次(WOS)
11
来源机构
Evidence Based Social Science Research Center, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, 222 Tianshui S Rd, Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
研究类型
Meta分析
关键词
Covid-19 Systematic review Risk of bias Meta-epidemiology Methodological quality Clinical trials, Randomized controlled trials
WOS学科分类
Health Care Sciences Services Public, Environmental Occupational Health