The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global surge in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aimed at establishing effective treatments. The methodological quality of these trials is crucial as it directly affects the reliability of the results. A recent systematic review and bibliometric analysis have evaluated the methodological procedures, execution diversity, global trends, and distribution of COVID-19 treatment RCTs from the second wave of the pandemic onwards.
The study sourced articles from three electronic databases, published from September 1, 2020, to April 1, 2023. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to identify relevant RCTs. The collected data included various study details. The Risk of Bias (RoB) 2 tool was used to assess the methodological quality, while the variability of implementation was evaluated against registration information. The bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer and Tableau software, which analyzed keyword co-occurrence and country distribution.
Improving Methodological Quality and Global Collaboration in COVID-19 Treatment Randomized Controlled Trials
Out of 501 studies initially identified, only 22 met the inclusion criteria, and 19 had registration information. The methodological quality assessment revealed deficiencies in five main domains: randomization process (36%), deviations from intended interventions (9%), missing outcome data (4%), measurement of the outcome (18%), and selection of reported results (4%). An analysis of the alignment between research protocols and registration data showed common deviations in eight critical aspects.
The bibliometric findings highlighted global collaboration in COVID-19 treatment RCTs, with significant contributions from Iran and Brazil. A keyword co-occurrence analysis also sheds light on prominent research trends and terms used in study titles and abstracts.
The study underscores the importance of enhancing trial rigor and transparency in global health emergencies given the scarcity of high-quality RCTs. Enhancing the methodological quality of these trials is essential to ensure the reliability of the results and the effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments.
Original Article DOI: 10.2147/JMDH.S448786
Original title: Evaluation of Global Post-Outbreak COVID-19 Treatment Interventions: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
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