How can PHP developers ensure that the content of variables is properly evaluated when using include() statements?

When using include() statements in PHP, developers should ensure that the content of variables is properly evaluated to prevent any potential security vulnerabilities, such as code injection attacks. One way to achieve this is by using the "htmlspecialchars()" function to escape any special characters in the variable before including it in the file.

$variable = "<script>alert('Hello, world!');</script>";
include htmlspecialchars($variable);