A cross-sectional study of the endorsement proportion of reporting guidelines in 1039 Chinese medical journals

BMC Medical Research Methodology

Research Article

David Moher¹  Yanfang Ma²  Lingyun Zhao²  Zhaoxiang Bian³  Jingyuan Luo³  Xuan Zhang³  Yuting Duan⁴  Juexuan Chen⁵  Jiangxia Miao⁶ 

[1] Canadian EQUATOR Centre, The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, PO BOX 201B, Centre for Practice Changing Research Building, 501 Smyth Road, K1H 8L6, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Ottawa Methods Center, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada;Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Clinical Study Center, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China;Chinese EQUATOR Center, Hong Kong Baptist University, 3/F, Jockey Club School of Chinese Medicine Building, 7 Baptist University Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China;Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Clinical Study Center, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China;Chinese EQUATOR Center, Hong Kong Baptist University, 3/F, Jockey Club School of Chinese Medicine Building, 7 Baptist University Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China;Centre for Chinese Herbal Medicine Drug Development, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China;Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Clinical Study Center, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China;Chinese EQUATOR Center, Hong Kong Baptist University, 3/F, Jockey Club School of Chinese Medicine Building, 7 Baptist University Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China;Evidence-based Research Office, The Affiliated TCM Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China;Pediatric TCM Clinic, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou, China;School of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China;

关键词: Reporting guideline;    CONSORT;    Clinical study;    Reporting quality;    Transparency;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12874-022-01789-1

 received in 2022-05-05, accepted in 2022-11-10,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundReporting quality is a critical issue in health sciences. Adopting the reporting guidelines has been approved to be an effective way of enhancing the reporting quality and transparency of clinical research. In 2012, we found that only 7 (7/1221, 0.6%) journals adopted the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement in China. The aim of the study was to know the implementation status of CONSORT and other reporting guidelines about clinical studies in China.MethodsA cross-sectional bibliometric study was conducted. Eight medical databases were systematically searched, and 1039 medical journals published in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan were included. The basic characteristics, including subject, language, publication place, journal-indexed databases, and journal impact factors were extracted. The endorsement of reporting guidelines was assessed by a modified 5-level evaluation tool, namely i) positive active, ii) positive weak, iii) passive moderate, iv) passive weak and v) none.ResultsAmong included journals, 24.1% endorsed CONSORT, and 0.8% endorsed CONSORT extensions. For STROBE (STrengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology), PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), STARD (An Updated List of Essential Items for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies), CARE (CAse REport guidelines), the endorsement proportion were 17.2, 16.6, 16.4, and 14.8% respectively. The endorsement proportion for SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials), TRIPOD (Transparent Reporting of a Multivariable Prediction Model for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis), AGREE (Appraisal of Guidelines, Research, and Evaluation), and RIGHT (Reporting Items for Practice Guidelines in Healthcare) were below 0.7%.ConclusionsOur results showed that the implementation of reporting guidelines was low. We suggest the following initiatives including i) enhancing the level of journal endorsement for reporting guidelines; ii) strengthening the collaboration among authors, reviewers, editors, and other stakeholders; iii) providing training courses for stakeholders; iv) establishing bases for reporting guidelines network in China; v) adopting the endorsement of reporting guidelines in the policies of the China Periodicals Association (CPA); vi) promoting Chinese medical journals into the international evaluation system and publish in English.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

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