Ann Lab Med.  2020 May;40(3):245-252. 10.3343/alm.2020.40.3.245.

Reporting Quality of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies in Laboratory Medicine: Adherence to Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) 2015

• Jang MA
• Kim B
• Lee YK

• KMID: 2466018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/alm.2020.40.3.245

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Poor reporting quality in diagnostic accuracy studies hampers an adequate judgment of the validity of the study. The Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) statement was published to improve the reporting quality of diagnostic accuracy studies. This study aimed to evaluate the adherence of diagnostic accuracy studies published in Annals of Laboratory Medicine (ALM) to STARD 2015 and to identify directions for improvement in the reporting quality of these studies.
METHODS
Two independent authors assessed articles published in ALM between 2012-2018 for compliance with 30 STARD 2015 checklist items to identify all eligible diagnostic accuracy studies published during this period. We included 66 diagnostic accuracy studies. A total of the fulfilled STARD items were calculated, and adherence was analyzed on an individual-item basis.
RESULTS
The overall mean±SD number of STARD items reported for the included studies was 11.2±2.7. Only five (7.6%) studies adhered to more than 50% of the 30 items. No study satisfied more than 80% of the items. Large variability in adherence to reporting standards was detected across items, ranging from 0% to 100%.
CONCLUSIONS
Adherence to STARD 2015 is suboptimal among diagnostic accuracy studies published in ALM. Our study emphasizes the necessity of adherence to STARD to improve the reporting quality of future diagnostic accuracy studies to be published in ALM.

Keyword

Adherence; Annals of Laboratory Medicine; Diagnostic test; Laboratory; Standards for reporting of diagnostic accuracy

MeSH Terms

Checklist
Compliance
Diagnostic Tests, Routine
Judgment

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Flow chart showing the selection procedure for diagnostic accuracy study reports published in Annals of Laboratory Medicine (ALM) between 2012 and 2018 in this study.

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