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Table 3 Reported rates of participant flow through the trial (reported as median rates across studies)

From: A review of reporting of participant recruitment and retention in RCTs in six major journals

Current stagea

Next stagea

Number of studiesb

Median progressing to next stage

First and third quartiles

Minimum and maximum

Invited to eligibility assessment

Attended eligibility assessment

13

70%

44%, 96%

15%, 100%

Attended eligibility assessment

Found to be eligible

71

70%

49%, 88%

6%, 100%

Found to be eligible

Randomised to a treatment arm

75

90%

77%, 100%

20%, 100%

Randomised to a treatment arm

Outcome assessed

113

93%

86%, 99%

49%, 100%

Outcome assessed

Included in analysis

111

100%

100%, 103%c

100%, 202%c

  1. a 'Current stage' denotes the denominator and 'Next stage' the numerator for the percentage progressing to next stage within each study
  2. b Relates to the number of studies providing relevant data
  3. c In some instances missing outcome data were imputed, hence percentages greater than 100% are possible here