STROCSS 2021: Strengthening the reporting of cohort, cross-sectional and case-control studies in surgery

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2021.106165
• Publication Date: 2021-11-11T02:06:42Z
• Authors: Ginimol Mathew; Riaz Agha; Joerg Albrecht; Prabudh Goel; Indraneil Mukherjee; Prathamesh Pai; Anil K. D’Cruz; Iain J. Nixon; Klappenbach Roberto; Syed Ather Enam; Somprakas Basu; Oliver J. Muensterer; Salvatore Giordano; Duilio Pagano; David Machado-Aranda; Patrick James Bra...; Mohammad Bashashati; Achilles Thoma; Raafat Y. Afifi; Maximilian Johnston; Ben Challacombe; James Chi-Yong Ngu; Mushtaq Chalkoo; Kandiah Raveendran; Jerome R. Hoffman; Boris Kirshtein; Wan Yee Lau; Mangesh A. Thorat; Diana Miguel; Andrew James Beamish; Gaurav Roy; Donagh Healy; Hammad M Ather; Shahzad G. Raja; Zubing Mei; Todd G. Manning; Veeru Kasivisvana...; Juan Gómez Rivas; Roberto Coppola; Burcin Ekser; Veena L. Karanth; Huseyin Kadioglu; Michele Valmasoni; Ashraf Noureldin
• Keywords: Research Report; Delphi Technique; Reporting guideline; 610; Case-control studies; STROCSS; Policy Review; Cohort Studies; 03 medical and health sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; 0302 clinical medicine; Case-Control Studies; 616; Cross-sectional studies; Case-control studies; Cohort studies; Cross-sectional studies; Reporting guideline; STROCSS; Cohort studies; Humans

Abstract

Introduction Strengthening The Reporting Of Cohort Studies in Surgery (STROCSS) guidelines were developed in 2017 in order to improve the reporting quality of observational studies in surgery and updated in 2019. In order to maintain relevance and continue upholding good reporting quality among observational studies in surgery, we aimed to update STROCSS 2019 guidelines.

Methods A STROCSS 2021 steering group was formed to come up with proposals to update STROCSS 2019 guidelines. An expert panel of researchers assessed these proposals and judged whether they should become part of STROCSS 2021 guidelines or not, through a Delphi consensus exercise.

Results 42 people (89%) completed the DELPHI survey and hence participated in the development of STROCSS 2021 guidelines. All items received a score between 7 and 9 by greater than 70% of the participants, indicating a high level of agreement among the DELPHI group members with the proposed changes to all the items.

Conclusion We present updated STROCSS 2021 guidelines to ensure ongoing good reporting quality among observational studies in surgery.

Highlights