Clinical Trials

■■❚❙❘Chapter 32Overview of ReportingDorothea Nitsch, Felicity Clemens,Duolao Wang, and Ameet BakhaiIn order to interpret the findings of a clinical trial, the readerhas to understand the rationale for and the conduct of a clinicaltrial, and whether and how the findings relate to further clinicalpractice. The phrase ‘clinical trial’ encompasses a wholerange of defined processes that are not necessarily familiarto a reader of a clinical trials report. Therefore, a report ofa clinical trial should include information about exactly howthe trial was conducted and how this might affect the results.The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials)statement is the standard guide for clinical trials reportsin medical publications. In this chapter, we explain thekey features of the CONSORT statement.365