OBJECTIVE: Provide guidance to investigators and authors regarding appropriate conduct and reporting of case-series studies. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Evidence-based practice has provided a substantial contribution to advancing clinical science. Many study designs have been critically examined, and the quality of the research literature has improved. A common study design in musculoskeletal medicine is the case series: a description of the course of patients over time. Case series can provide valuable information as to: case definition, trend analyses regarding outcomes, and clues as to causation. Case series cannot be used to draw inferences regarding treatment effect. METHODS: Examination of previous work on identification of characteristics of high quality study designs such as cohort studies; extending this work to case series. RESULTS: We identified draft characteristics that good case series studies should address: clearly defined study question; well- described study population; well-described intervention; use of validated outcome measures; appropriate statistical analyses; well-described results; discussion/conclusions supported by the data presented; funding sources acknowledged. CONCLUSIONS: We propose these measures to authors and journal editors as one mechanism to improve the quality of the case series study.
OBJECTIVE: Provide guidance to investigators and authors regarding appropriate conduct and reporting of case-series studies. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Evidence-based practice has provided a substantial contribution to advancing clinical science. Many study designs have been critically examined, and the quality of the research literature has improved. A common study design in musculoskeletal medicine is the case series: a description of the course of patients over time. Case series can provide valuable information as to: case definition, trend analyses regarding outcomes, and clues as to causation. Case series cannot be used to draw inferences regarding treatment effect. METHODS: Examination of previous work on identification of characteristics of high quality study designs such as cohort studies; extending this work to case series. RESULTS: We identified draft characteristics that good case series studies should address: clearly defined study question; well- described study population; well-described intervention; use of validated outcome measures; appropriate statistical analyses; well-described results; discussion/conclusions supported by the data presented; funding sources acknowledged. CONCLUSIONS: We propose these measures to authors and journal editors as one mechanism to improve the quality of the case series study.
Authors: Julia O Totosy de Zepetnek; Masae Miyatani; Maggie Szeto; Lora M Giangregorio; B Catharine Craven Journal: J Spinal Cord Med Date: 2017-09-04 Impact factor: 1.985
Authors: Persis Katrak; Andrea E Bialocerkowski; Nicola Massy-Westropp; Saravana Kumar; Karen A Grimmer Journal: BMC Med Res Methodol Date: 2004-09-16 Impact factor: 4.615