Adherence of trials of operative intervention to the CONSORT statement extension for non-pharmacological treatments: a comparative before and after study.

INTRODUCTION: Use of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement has been shown to improve the reporting of randomised controlled trials and it is endorsed by leading surgical journals. The CONSORT statement for non-pharmacological treatment (CONSORT-NPT) provides specific items to aid in the reporting of trials of operative intervention. This study compares the reporting practice of trials of operative intervention published in time periods before and after publication of the CONSORT-NPT statement. METHODS: A 30-point checklist containing the salient CONSORT-NPT items was designed and the adherence of trials meeting the inclusion criteria determined independently by two authors. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement of 3.95 points in the mean CONSORT-NPT score from 2004 to 2010 (95% confidence interval: 3.61-4.29, p