Table 1. General characteristics of included RCTs.
| Features of included RCTs | Total (n = 318, %) |
Chinese (n = 264, %) |
English (n = 54, %) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample size [Median (IQR)] | 76 (60–100) | 80 (60–105) | 60 (40–92) |
| ≤80b | 167 (52.5) | 135 (51.1) | 32 (59.3) |
| >80 | 151 (47.5) | 129 (48.9) | 22 (40.7) |
| Involving research centers | |||
| Single center | 278 (87.4) | 245 (92.8) | 33 (61.1) |
| Multi-center | 40 (12.6) | 19 (7.2) | 21 (38.9) |
| Number of arms | |||
| 2 arms | 267 (84.0) | 234 (88.6) | 33 (61.1) |
| >2 arms | 51 (16.0) | 30 (11.4) | 21 (38.9) |
| Length of follow up[Median (IQR)] | 2 (1–7) | 2 (2–5) | 3 (1–8) |
| ≤3 weeksb | 113 (35.5) | 103 (39.0) | 10 (18.5) |
| >3 weeks | 205 (64.5) | 161 (61.0) | 44 (81.5) |
| Sources of trial funding | |||
| Not-for-profit funding | 98 (30.8) | 64 (24.2) | 34 (62.0) |
| For profit funding | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Clearly stated, not funded | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Not reported | 220 (69.2) | 200 (75.8) | 20 (37.0) |
| Whether a protocol was explicitly mentioned | |||
| Yes | 22 (6.9) | 0 (0.0) | 22 (40.7) |
| No | 296 (93.1) | 264 (100.0) | 32 (59.3) |
| Whether the study was registered | |||
| Yes | 31 (9.7) | 0 (0.0) | 31 (57.4) |
| No | 287 (90.3) | 264 (100.0) | 23 (42.6) |
| Number of authors [Median (IQR)] | 3 (2–5) | 3 (2–5) | 6 (4–8) |
b: Median, IQR: interquartile range