Table 3

Quality of reports of 251 complementary and alternative medicine randomized controlled trials in children using the Jadad assessment scale and the adequacy of allocation concealment

Total number of items

Decade

1970s (n = 5)

1980s (n = 47)

1990s (n = 186)

2000s (n = 13)

Total (n = 251)

Randomization, mean (sd)

0.2 (0.8)

0.7 (0.7)

1.0 (0.6)

1.2 (0.6)

0.9 (0.6)

Double-blinding, mean (sd)

0.8 (1.1)

0.6 (0.9)

0.6 (0.9)

0.6 (0.9)

0.6 (0.9)

Withdrawals/dropouts, n (%)

2 (40.0)

12 (25.5)

89 (47.8)

2 (15.4)

105 (41.8)

Overall = 5, mean (sd)

1.4 (1.7)

1.6 (1.3)

2.0 (1.2)

2.0 (1.5)

1.9 (1.3)

Unclear allocation concealment, n (%)

4 (80.0)

41 (87.2)

150 (80.6)

9 (69.2)

204 (81.3)

Moher et al. BMC Pediatrics 2002 2:2   doi:10.1186/1471-2431-2-2