Assessment of reporting quality of randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of inulin-type fructans supplementation on cardiovascular disease risk factors: A systematic survey.

BACKGROUND: Transparent and detailed reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is essential to judge its validity and generalizability. We assessed the reporting quality of RCTs examining the effects of inulin-type fructans supplementation on cardiovascular risk factors, before and after the publication of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) in 2010. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Emcare, AMED, the Cochrane Library, and CINAHL from inception to May 15, 2022, including the reference lists of selected RCTs. We screened titles and abstracts and extracted the data independently and in duplicate. We included RCTs that investigated the effects of inulin-type fructans on cardiovascular disease risk factors (e.g., low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood glucose) in adults (18 years or older). The primary outcomes of this study were: the overall reporting quality of RCTs (defined as the total number of items [0 to 36] present from the CONSORT checklist) published before and after CONSORT; and the study characteristics (e.g., sample size, significance of primary outcome) predictive of the CONSORT score. The secondary outcome was the reporting of each specific item of the CONSORT checklist during pre- and post-CONSORT periods. The mean difference in the total number of reported items in studies published before and after CONSORT were compared using a t-test and Poisson regression to explore the factors associated with overall reporting quality of RCTs. We used Fisher's exact test to compare the adherence to each of the 36 items during pre- and post-CONSORT periods. RESULTS: We identified 1,767 citations from our systematic search, of which 55 were eligible. There was a significant increase in the reporting of CONSORT items (mean difference 8.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.24 to 11.71) between studies published before and after publication of CONSORT. The sole variable that was predictive of better reporting quality of RCTs was whether the study was published before or after CONSORT (incidence rate ratio 1.67, 95% CI 1.40 to 2.02). Completeness of reporting of RCTs only improved in 15 out of 36 items (41.6%) after the publication of CONSORT. CONCLUSION: The completeness of reporting in RCTs investigating inulin-type fructans supplementation on cardiovascular disease risk factors remains inadequate after the publication of CONSORT. Greater adherence to CONSORT by authors and enforcement of CONSORT by journals may improve the quality of reporting among RCTs.

Attitude of Nutrition Experts Toward Psychotherapy and Virtual Reality as Part of Obesity Treatment-An Online Survey.

Background: The management of obesity requires lifestyle-based interventions covering nutrition, physical activity, and behavior. As part of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), body image therapy approaches can be used not only by psychotherapists. One tool to conduct behavioral therapy is virtual reality (VR). It is unknown, whether nutrition experts conduct behavioral therapy, and whether they would like to use VR technology as a tool to conduct body image therapy as part of obesity management. Objective: This survey aimed to collect data from nutrition experts treating people with obesity about the status quo regarding behavioral and body image therapy as part of obesity management, and regarding their attitude toward VR in obesity therapy. Methods: The survey was conducted online in autumn 2020. Participants were recruited digitally through expert and professional associations. The standardized questionnaire included items concerning sociodemographic, professional status, behavioral therapy, body image, and VR. The descriptive analysis was performed with Excel, the subgroup analyses with R. Results: Data from 158 nutrition experts was analyzed. Participants were mostly female (98/102, 96.1%) and had a mean age of 45.6 ± 11.3 years (n = 101). Most of the survey participants (93/124, 75.0%) stated to use behavioral treatment methods in case of weight reduction as the primary target. More than half of the participants stated to address body image (99/150, 66.0%). Almost all (111/112, 99.1%) nutrition experts have never used VR-glasses. The suitability and importance of VR technology as part of obesity therapy was estimated as neutral by around 50%. Overall, no statistically significant difference could be shown between age groups regarding attitudes toward VR in obesity treatment. Conclusion: The results of this non-representative survey indicate that nutrition experts do not use VR technology in nutrition counseling sessions to treat obesity. In addition, survey participants have a positive attitude to VR technology, whereas they are not familiar with this technology. In future, VR technology might support nutrition experts of every age using elements of body image therapy. Survey Registration: The German Register of Clinical Studies (Registration Number: DRKS00022853).

[Quantity versus quality: a review on current methodological dispute in health services research]. / Quantität versus Qualität: Zum Stand der Methodendebatte in der Versorgungsforschung.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the percentage of qualitative and quantitative research papers on health services research in two German journals. METHODS: All publications of the two journals were viewed. Only empirical research papers were included. It was then assessed whether they dealt with health services research and what methodology was used to collect and analyse data. RESULTS: About half of all published empirical papers dealt with health services research. Of those, slightly over 20 % used qualitative methods at least partially. Ordered by topic, qualitative data collection and analysis is especially common in the fields of phenomenology, treatment determinants and treatment outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Sole qualitative methodology is still used rather seldom in health services research. Attempts to include quantitative as well as qualitative approaches are limited to sequential design, lowering the independent value of both approaches. The concept of triangulation yields the possibility to overcome paradigm based dichotomies. However, the choice of methodology ought to be based primarily on the research question.