Abstract
The reporting quality in medical research has recently been critically discussed. While reporting guidelines intend to maximize the value from funded research, and initiatives such as the EQUATOR network have been introduced to advance high quality reporting, the uptake of the guidelines by researchers could be improved. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of a biostatistician to the reporting and methodological quality of health research, and to identify methodological knowledge gaps. In a retrospective, single center, observational cohort study, two groups of publications were compared. The group of exposed publications had an academic biostatistician on the author list, whereas the group of non-exposed publications did not include a biostatistician of the evaluated group. Rating of reporting quality was done in blinded fashion and in duplicate. The primary outcome was a sum score based on six dimensions, ranging between 0 (worst) and 11 (best). The study protocol was reviewed and approved as a registered report. There were 131 publications in the exposed group published between 2017 and 2018. Of these, 95 were either RCTs, observational, or prediction / prognostic studies. Corresponding matches in the group of non-exposed publications were identified in a reproducible manner. Comparison of reporting quality overall revealed a 1.60 (95%CI from 0.92 to 2.28, p <0.0001) units higher reporting quality for exposed publications. A subgroup analysis within study types showed higher reporting quality across all three study types. Our study is the first to report an association of a higher reporting quality and methodological strength in health research publications with a biostatistician on the author list. The higher reporting quality persisted through subgroups of study types and dimensions. Methodological knowledge gaps were identified for prediction / prognostic studies, and for reporting on statistical methods in general and missing values, specifically.
Highlights
Despite measures to increase the reporting quality in the field of health research, for example, by introducing reporting guidelines and inclusion of such guidelines in recommendations for authors by many publishers, quality standards are still oftentimes not met
Data Availability Statement: The data underlying the results presented in the study are available on the Open Science Framework
The higher reporting quality persisted through subgroups of study types and dimensions
Summary
Despite measures to increase the reporting quality in the field of health research, for example, by introducing reporting guidelines and inclusion of such guidelines in recommendations for authors by many publishers, quality standards are still oftentimes not met. Recent evaluations of the literature showed that for observational studies, the corresponding STROBE guideline was not used by nearly 18% of the authors because the authors had not heard of the guideline before. Journals obviously play an important role, and a systematic evaluation showed that journal endorsement rates to the STROBE guidelines are only around 50% [2]. When it comes to the reporting of randomized trials, Dechartres et al [3] have systematically evaluated reporting of more than 20’000 trials included in Cochrane reviews. They conclude that poor reporting has decreased over time, but that especially lower impact factor journals show room for improvement. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of a biostatistician to the reporting and methodological quality of health research, and to identify methodological knowledge gaps
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