Development of the usefulness tool
We search in Medline and Google Scholar (March 2021) using the terms
‘Usefulness’ and ‘Randomised Controlled Trial’ to identify items that
are important to assess usefulness in clinical research. Of the 15,473
results we identified only one paper highlighting usefulness of clinical
research itself (other identified papers commented on usefulness of an
intervention studied in the trial). This identified paper on usefulness,
elaborated on eight specific criteria. (5) These eight features were
then discussed within a steering group consisting of two epidemiologist
(PB, JI) and four clinicians working in the field of obstetrics and
gynaecology (JH, ZA, MO, BWM). After discussion and consent of all group
members, a usefulness criteria appraisal checklist consisting of eight
criteria combining 13 items was developed (Box S2).