SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2017
Systematic review of control groups in nutrition education intervention research.
Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of mindfulness-based interventions on anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with coronary artery disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of weight loss in control group participants of lifestyle randomized trials.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Visual Perspective Taking Training Improves Theory of Mind in Autistic Children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Trial
- Randomized Controlled Trial Outcomes for HomeStyles-2, an Online Obesity Prevention Program for Families with Children in Middle Childhood.Nutrients · 2026Trial
- Using Mindfulness to Manage Moral Injury in Veterans: Feasibility and Satisfaction of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical psychology · 2025Trial
- The effect of an app-based dietary education on dietary intake and cardiometabolic risk markers in people with type 2 diabetes: results from a randomized controlled trial.Nutrition journal · 2025Trial
- A Randomized Intervention of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education Did Not Improve Dietary Outcomes Except for Vitamin D Among Lower-Income Women in Indiana.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2023Trial
- Attention control in a trial of an online psychoeducational intervention for caregivers.Research in nursing & health · 2022Trial
- Fidelity of a peer-led asthma self-management intervention and its attention control in a multisite study of urban adolescents.Research in nursing & health · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Nutrition and Culinary in the Kitchen Program: a randomized controlled intervention to promote cooking skills and healthy eating in university students - study protocol.Nutrition journal · 2017Trial
- Article
- Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment and the Potential of Dietary Interventions for the Prevention and Mitigation of Neurodegeneration.Cancer research · 2025Review
- The impact of investigator bias in nutrition research.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Technology-supported behavior change interventions for reducing sodium intake in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.NPJ digital medicine · 2024Review
- Study Protocol for a Controlled Trial of Nutrition Education Intervention about Celiac Disease in Primary School: ZELIAKIDE Project.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Comparator Groups in ICU-Based Studies of Physical Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review of 125 Studies.Critical care explorations · 2023Article
- Pragmatic evaluation of methods for retrieving unpublished information on comparator interventions in a systematic review of smoking cessation trials.Psychology & health · 2022Article
- Review
- Mapping ongoing nutrition intervention trials in muscle, sarcopenia, and cachexia: a scoping review of future research.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWell-designed research trials are critical for determining the efficacy and effectiveness of nutrition education interventions. To determine whether behavioral and/or cognition changes can be attributed to an intervention, the experimental design must include a control or comparison condition against which outcomes from the experimental group can be compared. Despite the impact different types of control groups can have on study outcomes, the treatment provided to participants in the control condition has received limited attention in the literature.
methodsA systematic review of control groups in nutrition education interventions was conducted to better understand how control conditions are described in peer-reviewed journal articles compared with experimental conditions. To be included in the systematic review, articles had to be indexed in CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, WoS, and/or ERIC and report primary research findings of controlled nutrition education intervention trials conducted in the United States with free-living consumer populations and published in English between January 2005 and December 2015. Key elements extracted during data collection included treatment provided to the experimental and control groups (e.g., overall intervention content, tailoring methods, delivery mode, format, duration, setting, and session descriptions, and procedures for standardizing, fidelity of implementation, and blinding); rationale for control group type selected; sample size and attrition; and theoretical foundation.
resultsThe search yielded 43 publications; about one-third of these had an inactive control condition, which is considered a weak study design. Nearly two-thirds of reviewed studies had an active control condition considered a stronger research design; however, many failed to report one or more key elements of the intervention, especially for the control condition. None of the experimental and control group treatments were sufficiently detailed to permit replication of the nutrition education interventions studied.
conclusionsFindings advocate for improved intervention study design and more complete reporting of nutrition education interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.