Perioperative lifestyle and nutritional interventions' details reporting in bariatric surgery trials according to the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist: a cross-sectional study

Background: Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is considered the most effective treatment for people with severe obesity, and certain interventions could enhance its long-term results. The complete reporting of interventions' details is necessary for their replication in clinical settings.

Objectives: To investigate the completeness of reporting of lifestyle and nutritional interventions applied in immediate perioperative period (30-days preoperatively and postoperatively) in patients undergoing MBS using the 12-item Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist, and to explore factors associated with compliant reporting.

Setting: A cross-sectional study.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL up to April 14 2024. The screening, extraction, and assessments were performed independently by 2 authors.

Results: Information from the manuscript, protocol, and supplementary materials in 72 trials comprising 76 interventions satisfied a mean of the 70.4% (standard deviation 16.5) of TIDieR items. Altogether, 6.6% of the interventions fulfilled all items. The lowest scoring items were adherence to intervention (item 12, reported in 51.3% of the interventions), modes of delivery (item 6, 42.1%), intervention provider (item 5, 38.3%), and fidelity assessment and maintenance planning (item 11, 23.7%). A total of 6.9% of the trials contained relevant information in the protocol or supplementary materials and 93.1% required contacting authors for clarifications. We identified the number of authors, availability of a study protocol, availability of supplementary materials, reporting of the compliance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines, and reporting of a plan for dealing with missing outcome data as predictors of better reporting, while the Asian country of the corresponding author implied less compliant reporting.

Conclusions: The completeness of reporting of lifestyle and nutritional interventions applied in immediate perioperative period in patients undergoing MBS is suboptimal and, consequently, impedes their replication in clinical practice. A wider adoption of the TIDieR checklist by authors, reviewers, and journal editors should enhance the transparency, clarity, and transferability of research.