Reporting of observational studies

doi:10.1136/bmj.39351.581366.BE

BMJ 2007;335:783-784 (20 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39351.581366.BE

Editorials

Reporting of observational studies

New recommendations should help researchers, journal editors,and readers

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In this week's BMJ, von Elm and colleagues report the STROBE(strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology)statement, which recommends what should be included in an accurateand complete report of an analytical observational study.¹

Observational epidemiology has made an immense contributionto our understanding of the causes and treatment of disease.Numerous causal associations between risks factors and diseasehave been identified (see box in version on bmj.com). Most ofthese observations have led to substantial improvements in publichealth by causing changes in policy or by leading to the developmentof effective treatments.

A few examples of important causal associations between riskfactors and disease that have been identified by clinical epidemiologicalstudies

Smoking and cancer^w1

Radiation exposure and cancer^w2

Lipidsand coronary disease^w3

Blood pressure and stroke^w4

Sleepingposition and sudden infant death^w5

Folate and risk of neuraltube defects^w6

Hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer^w7

Malecircumcision and HIV infection^w8

Aspirin use and colorectalcancer^w9

Observational studies are also essential for effective clinical. . . [Full text of this article]

Peter M Rothwell, professor of clinical neurology, Meena Bhatia, research fellow

Stroke Prevention Research Unit, University Department of Clinical Neurology, Oxford OX2 6HA

peter.rothwell@clneuro.ox.ac.uk

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Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies: Erik von Elm, Douglas G Altman, Matthias Egger, Stuart J Pocock, Peter C Gøtzsche, Jan P Vandenbroucke STROBE Initiative
BMJ 2007 335: 806-808. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]