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Review
. 2015 Dec 30;46(4):168-175.

Weaknesses in the reporting of cross-sectional studies according to the STROBE statement: the case of metabolic syndrome in adults from Peru

Jose Carlos Tapia #  1   2   3 , Eloy F Ruiz #  1   3 , Oscar J Ponce #  1   3 , German Malaga  1   2   3 , Jaime Miranda  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Weaknesses in the reporting of cross-sectional studies according to the STROBE statement: the case of metabolic syndrome in adults from Peru

Jose Carlos Tapia et al. Colomb Med (Cali). .

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Introduction: The inadequate reporting of cross-sectional studies, as in the case of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, could cause problems in the synthesis of new evidence and lead to errors in the formulation of public policies.

Objective: To evaluate the reporting quality of the articles regarding metabolic syndrome prevalence in Peruvian adults using the STROBE recommendations.

Methods: We conducted a thorough literature search with the terms "Metabolic Syndrome", "Sindrome Metabolico" and "Peru" in MEDLINE/PubMed, LILACS, SciELO, LIPECS and BVS-Peru until December 2014. We selected those who were population-based observational studies with randomized sampling that reported prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adults aged 18 or more of both sexes. Information was analysed through the STROBE score per item and recommendation.

Results: Seventeen articles were included in this study. All articles met the recommendations related to the report of the study's rationale, design, and provision of summary measures. The recommendations with the lowest scores were those related to the sensitivity analysis (8%, n= 1/17), participant flowchart (18%, n= 3/17), missing data analysis (24%, n= 4/17), and number of participants in each study phase (24%, n= 4/17).

Conclusion: Cross-sectional studies regarding the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in peruvian adults have an inadequate reporting on the methods and results sections. We identified a clear need to improve the quality of such studies.

Introducción: El reporte inadecuado de estudios transversales, como en el caso de la prevalencia de síndrome metabólico, podría causar problemas en la síntesis de nueva evidencia y generar errores en la formulación de políticas públicas.

Objetivo: Evaluar la calidad de reporte de estudios transversales sobre la prevalencia de síndrome metabólico en Perú utilizando las recomendaciones de STROBE.

Métodos: Se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica exhaustiva hasta Diciembre 2014 en MEDLINE/PubMed, LILACS, SciELO, LIPECS y BVS-Perú con los términos "Metabolic Syndrome", "Sindrome Metabolico" y "Peru". Se seleccionaron estudios observacionales con base poblacional, muestreo aleatorizado, que reportaran datos de prevalencia en adultos mayores de 18 años de ambos sexos. La información fue analizada a través de STROBE según puntuación por artículo y por recomendación.

Resultados: Diecisiete artículos fueron incluidos en este estudio. Todos cumplieron con las recomendaciones relacionadas con el reporte de razones y fundamentos de la investigación, reporte del diseño de estudio y la proporción de medidas de resumen. Las recomendaciones con menor puntaje fueron las relacionadas a la descripción del análisis de sensibilidad (8%, n= 1/13), consideración del uso de diagrama de flujo para los participantes (18%, n= 3/17), explicación del análisis de datos ausentes (24%, n= 4/17) y del número de participantes en cada fase (24%, n= 4/17).

Conclusión: Los estudios transversales sobre prevalencia de síndrome metabólico en adultos del Perú presentan un inadecuado reporte en las secciones de métodos y resultados. Se identifica una clara necesidad de mejorar la calidad de este tipo de estudios.

Keywords: Metabolic syndrome; Peru; adult; epidemiology; prevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The authors have declared that no competing interest exist

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Flowchart of the selection of articles
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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