1. General characteristics.
| Characteristics | No. (%) |
| Type of journal | |
| Specialty journal | 16 (34.0) |
| General medical journal | 31 (66.0) |
| Medical specialty | |
| Cardiovascular system | 39 (83.0) |
| Neurology/psychiatry | 4 (8.5) |
| Orthopedics/ rheumatology | 2 (4.3) |
| Gastroenterology | 1 (2.1) |
| Oncology | 1 (2.1) |
| Study design | |
| Parallel groups | 47 (100.0) |
| Non‐inferiority/equivalence trial | 11 (23.4) |
| Multicentre studies | 42 (89.4) |
| Sample size (median [Q1‐Q3]) | 3,449 [1506 to 10,000] |
| Funding source | |
| Private | 30 (63.8) |
| Mixed | 14 (29.8) |
| Public | 2 (4.3) |
| Unclear | 1 (2.1) |
| Experimental treatment | |
| Drug | 43 (91.5) |
| Surgery and procedure | 3 (6.4) |
| Both | 1 (2.1) |
| Comparator | |
| Active treatment | 12 (25.5) |
| Placebo | 22 (46.8) |
| Usual care | 13 (27.7) |
| Risk of bias regarding treatment effect in selected RCTs | |
| Random allocation sequence adequately generated | 34 (72.3) |
| Random allocation sequence adequately concealed | 26 (55.3) |
| Patients blinded | 36 (76.6) |
| Care provider blinded | 34 (72.3) |
| Onsite assessor blinded | 35 (74.5) |
| Missing data < 10% of randomised population | 39 (83.0) |
| Outcome selected | |
| Efficacy | 41 (87.2) |
| Safety | 6 (12.8) |
| Primary outcome of the RCT | 39 (83.0) |
| Composite outcome | 32 (68.1) |
| Subjectivity of the outcome selected | |
| Subjective | 35 (74.5) |
| composite | 12 (25.5) |
Q1, Q3: quartile 1, quartile 3