Display Criteria with n = 0 in CONSORT Diagram

[vivek-verma202]

Thank you for the consort R package.

In the context of a CONSORT diagram, which is used to display the flow of participants through each stage of a randomized controlled trial, it is important to provide a transparent and comprehensive account of the participant flow. Even if no patients are excluded based on a specific eligibility criterion, it is still valuable to display that criterion with ( n = 0 ). This ensures clarity and completeness in reporting, making it evident that the criterion was considered and applied, but did not result in any exclusions.

Currently, the package omits displaying criteria where no exclusion takes place. Is there a way to add this feature to ensure that all criteria, including those with (n = 0), are displayed in the CONSORT diagram?

This request is in line with the CONSORT 2010 guidelines, which emphasize the importance of transparency and completeness in reporting participant flow. As stated in the CONSORT 2010 Explanation and Elaboration document:

Moher D, Hopewell S, Schulz KF, Montori V, Gøtzsche PC, Devereaux PJ, Elbourne D, Egger M, Altman DG. CONSORT 2010 explanation and elaboration: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. BMJ. 2010 Mar 23;340:c869. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c869. PMID: 20332511; PMCID: PMC2844943.

[adayim]

Thank you for the comments. This would only work with labels. I will work on the next version to account for the 0 count.