Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: Trial registration is known to improve research transparency and will ultimately strengthen the validity and value of the scientific evidence base. More and more biomedical journals support clinical trial registration policies after the requirement for registration was introduced by several medical journals, led by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). However, the attention of trial registration varies among countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Objectives: The study is aimed to evaluate the attention of trial registration in selective countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Methods: The published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from each country were extracted by restricting the ‘affiliation’ field in PubMed searches to individual country names. The selected countries or regions composed of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The search was limited from October 2011 to March 2012. We then compared the performance of each country with regard to RCTs in terms of trial registration.
Results: Among the 5 countries and regions included in the study, 29.4% (5/17) of the RCTs produced by Hong Kong had trials register, followed by Japan (26.9%, 25/93), South Korea (22.8%, 21/92), Singapore (18.2%, 2/11) and Taiwan (13.9%, 5/17). Interestingly, Primary Registry in the WHO Registry Network had been developed in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
Conclusions: Trial registration has not yet become part of the current research paradigm in the Asia-Pacific Region. Our results suggest that researchers should pay more attention in register their studies on the registry platform. The findings also reveal the importance of governmental support for the development of Primary Registry in the WHO Registry Network or an ICMJE approved registry.
Objectives: The study is aimed to evaluate the attention of trial registration in selective countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Methods: The published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from each country were extracted by restricting the ‘affiliation’ field in PubMed searches to individual country names. The selected countries or regions composed of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The search was limited from October 2011 to March 2012. We then compared the performance of each country with regard to RCTs in terms of trial registration.
Results: Among the 5 countries and regions included in the study, 29.4% (5/17) of the RCTs produced by Hong Kong had trials register, followed by Japan (26.9%, 25/93), South Korea (22.8%, 21/92), Singapore (18.2%, 2/11) and Taiwan (13.9%, 5/17). Interestingly, Primary Registry in the WHO Registry Network had been developed in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
Conclusions: Trial registration has not yet become part of the current research paradigm in the Asia-Pacific Region. Our results suggest that researchers should pay more attention in register their studies on the registry platform. The findings also reveal the importance of governmental support for the development of Primary Registry in the WHO Registry Network or an ICMJE approved registry.