Department of Plastic Surgery, Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
University of Birmingham Medical School, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Int J Surg. 2017 Sep;45:144-148. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2017.07.099. Epub 2017 Jul 28.
The SCARE guideline was developed in 2016 through an expert Delphi consensus exercise. It aimed to improve the quality of reporting of surgical case reports. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of introducing the SCARE guideline for surgical on reporting of case reports submitted to a single journal.
A total of 20 case reports published in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports (IJSCR) and Annals of Medicine and Surgery (AMS) in July and August 2016, prior to the introduction of the SCARE guideline (the pre-SCARE period), were randomly identified and scored against the SCARE criteria. Two independent teams performed the scoring giving a total score out of a theoretical maximum of 34 for each case report, the 'SCARE score' (expressed as a percentage). The scores for the two teams were then compared and consensus was reached to achieve a final sore set. This process was repeated for the January and February 2017 issues of the journal, post implementation of the guideline (the post-SCARE period). SCARE scores were compared between the pre- and post-SCARE periods.
The mean pre-SCARE score was 75.0% (standard deviation ± 6.29, Range 62-84), and the mean post-SCARE score was 82.6% (standard deviation ± 8.02, range 66-99), a 10% relative increase in compliance which was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The Cohen's Kappa score between teams A and B was 0.871, implying very substantial agreement.
Implementation of the SCARE guideline resulted in a 10% improvement in the reporting quality of surgical case reports published in a single journal. Adherence to SCARE reporting guidelines by authors, reviewers and editors should be improved to boost reporting quality. Journals should develop their policies, submission processes and guide for authors to incorporate the guideline.
SCARE 指南于 2016 年通过专家 Delphi 共识实践制定。其旨在提高外科病例报告的质量。本研究旨在评估 SCARE 指南对向单一期刊提交的病例报告的报告质量的影响。
随机选择并根据 SCARE 标准对 2016 年 7 月和 8 月发表在《国际外科病例报告杂志》（IJSCR）和《医学与外科年鉴》（AMS）上的 20 篇病例报告进行评分。每个病例报告的理论最高得分为 34 分，得分采用 SCARE 评分（以百分比表示）。然后比较两个独立团队的评分，并达成共识以获得最终评分。然后对该期刊 2017 年 1 月和 2 月的问题重复此过程，即指南实施后（SCARE 后时期）。比较 SCARE 评分在 SCARE 前和 SCARE 后时期。
SCARE 评分在 SCARE 前时期为 75.0%（标准差±6.29，范围 62-84），SCARE 评分在 SCARE 后时期为 82.6%（标准差±8.02，范围 66-99），合规性相对增加了 10%，这具有统计学意义（P<0.001）。团队 A 和团队 B 之间的 Cohen's Kappa 评分为 0.871，意味着有很强的一致性。
SCARE 指南的实施使单个期刊发表的外科病例报告的报告质量提高了 10%。作者、审稿人和编辑应提高对 SCARE 报告指南的遵守程度，以提高报告质量。期刊应制定政策、提交流程和作者指南以纳入该指南。
