Evaluating Fidelity of reporting in randomized controlled trials on childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia

ABSTRACT

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) play an integral role in childhood cancer research. Several efforts to improve the quality of reporting of clinical trials have been published in recent years, including the TIDieR checklist. Many reviews have since used TIDieR to evaluate how well RCTs are being reported, but no such study has yet been done in childhood cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate adherence of RCTs involving acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) to the TIDieR checklist. Methods: The PubMed database was used to screen for RCTs involving ALL published since 2015. Of 1546 articles identified, 46 met study criteria and were then evaluated against the TIDieR 12-point checklist to measure the degree of adherence. Results: Of the 46 articles included, 9 (19.6%) met full TIDieR criteria. Seven of the 9 reported non-pharmacological interventions, and the remaining 2 reported pharmacological interventions. The average article properly reported 8.98/12 checklist items. Item 5 (intervention provider) was the most poorly reported item, properly reported in only 34.8% of articles. Conclusion: We conclude that overall TIDieR adherence is low and needs to be adhered to more fully in order to improve research in ALL as well as in all childhood cancers.