Workshop type: Discussion.

Objective: To discuss the potential effects of randomized controlled trial design elements, such as provider type or intervention setting, and the impact these have on results of systematic reviews.

Summary:
Trial design variables, such as treatment provider, setting, type of control condition, and study participant demographics, can influence the estimates of treatment effect within RCTs and, thus, may also impact the results of systematic reviews.  In this workshop we will:
• examine which RCT variables can have an effect and how they can influence results; 
• introduce participants to the relevant external validity checklists, such as the Behavioral Medicine Checklist,  RE-AIM and CLEAR NPT, which are used to assess these design elements that may impact intervention size;
• use these checklists in small groups to review a number of Cochrane reviews, and e xamine which design variables would be important and how they may impact results;  
• discuss the frequency with which these trial design variable details are reported, and how this can be made more transparent in the future.

Intended audience: (i) Review authors; (ii) Trials Search Co-ordinators; (iii) consumers.

Technical level expected of participants: Basic.