Evaluating the Quality of Trial Reports in Iranian Nursing Journals

The results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have a significant impact on providing high-quality evidence-based nursing care. However, little is known about the quality of RCT reports in Iranian nursing journals. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of RCT reports published in nursing journal based on the CONSORT statement from 2011 to 2016.
This national cross-sectional study was conducted between May 2016 and October 2016. The study population consisted of all nursing trials indexed in domestic databases including Iranian Nursing Publications Index (nindex.ir), Magiran, Scientific Information Database (SID), as well as international databases including Pubmed and SCOPUS in a five-year period between March 2011 and March 2016. A sample of 150 papers was selected using stratified random sampling based on the inclusion criteria. The CONSORT checklist was used as the study main instrument.
The overall mean quality of trials based on CONSORT was 20.20 ± 3.87 (11-30). The mean of method and randomization section was 8.85 ± 1.85 (6-3); 50% of trials had an overall score less than 20, and the methodology score of 75% of trials was less than 10.
Based on the evidence-based pyramid, trials play an important role in the production of specialized knowledge in the fields of nursing practice, education and community. However, these trials must be not only properly designed and implemented, but reported in the standard form. The present study determined what parts of the reports of nursing trials need a critical attention. In addition, several solutions were offered to improve the quality of these reports