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. 2017 Sep 15;8(5):652-678.
doi: 10.3945/an.117.015941. Print 2017 Sep.

Perspective: An Extension of the STROBE Statement for Observational Studies in Nutritional Epidemiology (STROBE-nut): Explanation and Elaboration

Agneta Hörnell  1 , Christina Berg  2 , Elisabet Forsum  3 , Christel Larsson  2 , Emily Sonestedt  4 , Agneta Åkesson  5 , Carl Lachat  6 , Dana Hawwash  6 , Patrick Kolsteren  6 , Graham Byrnes  7 , Willem De Keyzer  8 , John Van Camp  6 , Janet E Cade  9 , Darren C Greenwood  10 , Nadia Slimani  7 , Myriam Cevallos  11   12 , Matthias Egger  12 , Inge Huybrechts  7 , Elisabet Wirfält  4
Affiliations

Perspective: An Extension of the STROBE Statement for Observational Studies in Nutritional Epidemiology (STROBE-nut): Explanation and Elaboration

Agneta Hörnell et al. Adv Nutr. .

Abstract

Nutritional epidemiology is an inherently complex and multifaceted research area. Dietary intake is a complex exposure and is challenging to describe and assess, and links between diet, health, and disease are difficult to ascertain. Consequently, adequate reporting is necessary to facilitate comprehension, interpretation, and generalizability of results and conclusions. The STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement is an international and collaborative initiative aiming to enhance the quality of reporting of observational studies. We previously presented a checklist of 24 reporting recommendations for the field of nutritional epidemiology, called "the STROBE-nut." The STROBE-nut is an extension of the general STROBE statement, intended to complement the STROBE recommendations to improve and standardize the reporting in nutritional epidemiology. The aim of the present article is to explain the rationale for, and elaborate on, the STROBE-nut recommendations to enhance the clarity and to facilitate the understanding of the guidelines. Examples from the published literature are used as illustrations, and references are provided for further reading.

Keywords: checklist; dietary assessment; epidemiology; nutrition; reference standards; scientific reporting.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author disclosures: AH, CB, EF, C Larsson, ES, AÅ, C Lachat, DH, PK, GB, WDK, JVC, JEC, DCG, NS, MC, ME, IH, and EW, no conflicts of interest. JEC is Principal Investigator and DCG is Co-Investigator on a grant from the Medical Research Council (MR/L02019X/1) that is looking at ways to improve the quality of dietary assessment. MC acted as coordinator of the STROBE collaboration.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Example table. Reproduced from reference with permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Lachat C, Hawwash D, Ocke MC, Berg C, Forsum E, Hörnell A, Larsson CL, Sonestedt E, Wirfält E, Åkesson A, et al. . Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology–nutritional epidemiology (STROBE-nut): an extension of the STROBE statement. Nutr Bull 2016;41:240–51. - PMC - PubMed
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