Survey for the Extension of the STROBE Statement for Equity – Proposed additional items or extensions of existing items for health equity-relevant studies.

What is the motivation for the extension of STROBE for Equity? Health inequities can go frequently unreported in observational studies. This international group of scientists, educators, decision-makers, ethicists, funders, and patients, using an integrated knowledge translation approach, proposes to develop an extension to the STROBE (STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology) guideline to deal specifically with these disparities.

Health equity is defined as the absence of avoidable and unfair differences in health within and between populations. Observational studies are conducted in real-world settings and are well suited for understanding the distribution of health inequities and monitoring changes in the policy over time. We use the term ‘populations experiencing inequities’ to describe populations who are denied opportunities that others have to benefit from social and environmental conditions that lead to better health.  Commitment to health equity is about improving health outcomes for people who experience socially-structured disadvantage and as a result, are not able to achieve their optimal health status. We use the acronym PROGRESS Plus.
  • Place of residence (rural/urban/inner city, low- or middle-income country)
  • Race/ethnicity/culture
  • Occupation
  • Gender/sex
  • Religion
  • Education (literacy)
  • Socioeconomic status
  • Social capital
  • “Plus” refers to other categories across which discrimination may exist such as sexual orientation, age, disability, or disease status. Other lists of factors or criteria may be also used.
What is the purpose of the extension of STROBE for equity? The objective of this study is to develop guidelines to improve the reporting of health equity considerations in observational studies. The equity extension supplements the original core STROBE. Extensions of the STROBE Statement have been developed to give additional guidance for observational studies with specific designs, data and interventions, and which in this case are focused on equity.

What is the name of the STROBE extension for Equity? The name of the extended version of STROBE for equity is "STROBE-Equity Extension".

How were the candidate checklist items developed? The candidate items presented in this survey were developed from a scoping review of available guidance, a methodological survey of a random sample of observational studies, and through discussions with experts on the STROBE Equity Executive and Advisory Board. Both international groups and membership are listed here.

Who will use the STROBE extension for Equity?  For the same reason that people use STROBE, people who have conducted observational studies that build evidence that is relevant to equity, or "equity-relevant observational studies" will use the extension, as well as those wanting to see how the observational studies are reported. In addition, this extension of STROBE for Equity can be used with other STROBE extensions. The STROBE Equity extension will be made publicly available on the Cochrane and Campbell equity methods group website.

For more information, please refer to the study protocol: Improving social justice in observational studies: protocol for the development of a global and Indigenous STROBE-equity reporting guideline.

The survey will remain open until January 15th, 2024.
 
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