title: Reporting randomized, controlled trials of herbal interventions: an elaborated CONSORT statement.
abstract: Herbal medicinal products are widely used, vary greatly in content and quality, and are actively tested in randomized, controlled trials (RCTs). The authors' objective was to develop recommendations for reporting RCTs of herbal medicine interventions, based on the need to elaborate on the 22-item CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) checklist. Telephone calls were made and a consensus meeting was held with 16 participants in Toronto, Canada, to develop these recommendations. The group agreed on context-specific elaborations of 9 CONSORT checklist items for RCTs of herbal medicines. Item 4, concerning the herbal medicine intervention, required the most extensive elaboration. These recommendations have been developed to improve the reporting of RCTs using herbal medicine interventions.
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Institute for Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada. j.gagnier@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Joel J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gagnier
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boon
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rochon
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moher
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bombardier
mesh_terms: D029001:Herbal Medicine; D011643:Publishing / Q000592:standards*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards