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Adherence to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist in articles published in EAACI Journals: a bibliographic study.
  • +8
  • Elena Wiehn,
  • Cristian Ricci,
  • Aberto Alvarez-Perea,
  • Michael Perkin,
  • Christina Jones,
  • Cezmi Akdis,
  • Jean Bousquet,
  • Philippe Eigenmann,
  • Clive E.H. Grattan,
  • Christian Apfelbacher,
  • Jon Genuneit
Elena Wiehn
Ulm University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Cristian Ricci
Leipzig University
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Aberto Alvarez-Perea
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon
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Michael Perkin
St George's, University of London
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Christina Jones
University of Surrey Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
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Cezmi Akdis
University of Zurich
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Jean Bousquet
University Hospital
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Philippe Eigenmann
University Hospital Geneva, Switzerland
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Clive E.H. Grattan
Guy's Hospital
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Christian Apfelbacher
Universität Magdeburg Medizinische Fakultät
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Jon Genuneit
Ulm University
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Abstract

Research data derived from observational studies are accumulating quickly in the field of allergy and immunology and a large amount of observational studies are published every year. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the adherence to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist by papers published in the three European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology journals, during the period 2009-2018. To this end, we conducted a bibliographic study of up to eight randomly selected papers per year per Journal. Our literature search resulted in 223 papers. Among those, 80, 80 and 63 records were from Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Allergy and Clinical and Translational Allergy, respectively; the latter was published only from 2011 on. Prospective, case-control, and cross-sectional designs were described in 88, 43, and 92 papers, respectively. Full reporting of all STROBE items was present in 47.4%, 45.6%, and 41.2% for the cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies, respectively. Generally, no time trend in adherence of reporting STROBE items was observed, apart from reporting funding, which increased from 60% in 2009/2010 to more than 90% in 2018. We identified a cluster of STROBE items with low proportions of full reporting constituted by the items on reporting study design in the title and methods, variables types along with their measurement/assessment, bias and confounding, study size, and grouping of variables. It appears that the STROBE checklist is a suitable tool in observational allergy epidemiology. However, adherence to the STROBE checklist appeared suboptimal.
10 Mar 2021Submitted to Allergy
11 Mar 2021Submission Checks Completed
11 Mar 2021Assigned to Editor
12 Mar 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
25 Mar 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
25 Mar 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
10 May 20211st Revision Received
11 May 2021Submission Checks Completed
11 May 2021Assigned to Editor
11 May 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
12 May 2021Editorial Decision: Accept
Dec 2021Published in Allergy volume 76 issue 12 on pages 3581-3588. 10.1111/all.14951