Assessment of the frequency of reporting dental patient-reported outcomes (dPROs) in a sample of randomized controlled trials on root coverage procedures

Objective: Dental patient-reported outcomes (dPROs) are important for understanding the impact of proposed therapies on patients’ oral health. The aims of the present study were to investigate the frequency of the reporting of dPROs in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of root coverage procedures and to assess associations between the study/article characteristics and the reporting level of the dPROs. Methods: The PubMed database was searched for RCTs of root coverage procedures in March 16, 2022 and articles published up to March 2022 were included. Information on the types of outcomes and the characteristics of the studies/articles were extracted and reported as frequencies and percentages. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations between the study/article characteristics and the reporting level of dPROs. Results: The search initially identified 387 articles, and after applying the eligibility criteria, 135 articles reporting 135 RCTs were included. A combination of dPROs and non-dPROs was reported in 61.5% of the selected trials, while 37.8% of the trials reported only non-dPROs. Pain or discomfort was the most frequently reported dPRO (n = 58, 43% of the RCTs). More recently published RCTs reported more dPROs. The country of the first author (odds ratio [OR]: 4.39; 95% CI: 1.76-10.95; P <.01), protocol registration (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.16-0.83; P =.02), and RCT type (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.17-0.83; P =.02) were significantly associated with the reporting level of the dPROs. Conclusions: Researchers in recent years seem to be paying more attention to the importance of dPROs. RCTs in which the first authors were from developed countries, registered trials, and RCTs with a parallel design were more likely to report dPROs than RCTs with first authors from developing countries, unregistered trials, and RCTs with a split-mouth design.