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Editorials

Making public health interventions more evidence based

BMJ 2004; 328 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7446.966 (Published 22 April 2004) Cite this as: BMJ 2004;328:966
  1. Betty Kirkwood, professor of epidemiology and international health (betty.kirkwood@lshtm.ac.uk)
  1. Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT

    TREND statement for non-randomised designs will make a difference

    The movement towards evidence based public health policy has been gaining momentum over the past decade. It takes an important step forward with the recent publication of the TREND statement (transparent reporting of evaluations with non-randomised designs).1 Its aim is to improve the quality of reporting of non-randomised evaluations so that the conduct and findings of such research are transparent and information that is critical for research synthesis is not missing, and to do for public health evaluations what the CONSORT statement has done for randomised controlled trials.2

    The publication of the TREND statement reflects the increasing recognition that successful evaluation of public health interventions will necessarily entail the use of research designs other than controlled trials35 and various types of evidence, often in combination.4 6 The reasons for using such interventions include the following.

    Firstly, the intervention is already well established or its …

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