Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39917763›Full record

ArticleNeuro-oncology practice2025

Reporting standards in randomized controlled trials involving neuro-oncology caregivers: A systematic review report from the RANO-Cares working group.

Florien W Boele, Caroline Hertler, Paula Sherwood, David Cachia, Linda Dirven, Jacob S Young, Tobias Walbert, Macy Stockdill, Eduardo Rodriguez Almaraz, Karin Piil

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuro-oncology practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
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  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Florien W BoeleFaculty of Medicine and Health, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0409-7949
Caroline HertlerDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Competence Center Palliative Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6181-2895
Paula SherwoodSchool of Nursing, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
David CachiaDivision of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
Linda DirvenDepartment of Neurology, Haaglanden Medical Center, The Hague, the Netherlands.
Jacob S YoungDepartment of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5499-4325
Tobias WalbertDepartment of Neurosurgery and Neurology, Henry Ford Health, Wayne State University and Michigan State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0667-8106
Macy StockdillNeuro-Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Eduardo Rodriguez AlmarazDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Karin PiilDepartment of People and Technology, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7972-4674

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Family caregivers in neuro-oncology (eg, spouse, family member, friend to a patient) have high unmet support needs, yet intervention trials and effective support options are scarce. The Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO)-Cares working group investigated the methodological quality of neuro-oncology caregiver outcomes reporting in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: A systematic review was performed to evaluate to what extent RCTs assessing outcomes of caregivers of adult primary brain tumor patients adhere to minimum reporting standards. A 33-item checklist (23 applicable to secondary analysis reports) based on the International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) criteria for patient-reported outcome reporting was used. Risk of bias was assessed per RCT. Results: Fifteen publications from 11 unique RCTs included 676 neuro-oncology caregivers, with low overall risk of bias. Ten publications (66%) reported on caregiver outcomes as a primary aim, of which 8 (80%) satisfied ≥2/3 of the key methodological criteria. Of the 5 secondary analysis reports (33%), 2 (40%) met ≥2/3 of applicable key criteria. Criteria often not reported adequately included sample size calculations (reported adequately in Conclusions: Whilst there are opportunities to enhance reporting standards, RCTs that include neuro-oncology caregiver outcomes generally adhere to high-quality reporting standards and have low risk of bias, indicating good potential to impact clinical practice.

Indexed as

brain tumorcaregiverPROreporting standardssystematic review

Identifiers

PMID39917763
PMCPMC11798602

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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.