Reporting of equity in observational epidemiology: A methodological review.
Journal: Journal of global health
Volume: 14
Issue:
Year of Publication: 2024
Affiliated Institutions:
Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bruyère Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Freelance health research librarian, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Hassanah Consulting, Seattle, Washington State, USA.
Healthcare Research Associates, LLC/S.T.A.R. Initiative, California, USA.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Centre for Evidence Based Health Care, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Washington, DC, USA.
Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland.
Judith Lumley Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
School of Health and Human Performance, Georgia College, Milledgeville, Georgia, USA.
Centre for Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Public Health and Sports Science, University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health, Exeter, UK.
Family Medicine Department, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Knowledge Translation and Health Technology Assessment in Health Equity, Ottawa, Canada.
Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.
Campbell Collaboration, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, Tanzania.
International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
C.T. Lamont Primary Care Research Centre, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
Department of Public Health, The University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon.
Abstract summary
Observational studies can inform how we understand and address persisting health inequities through the collection, reporting and analysis of health equity factors. However, the extent to which the analysis and reporting of equity-relevant aspects in observational research are generally unknown. Thus, we aimed to systematically evaluate how equity-relevant observational studies reported equity considerations in the study design and analyses.We searched MEDLINE for health equity-relevant observational studies from January 2020 to March 2022, resulting in 16 828 articles. We randomly selected 320 studies, ensuring a balance in focus on populations experiencing inequities, country income settings, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) topic. We extracted information on study design and analysis methods.The bulk of the studies were conducted in North America (n = 95, 30%), followed by Europe and Central Asia (n = 55, 17%). Half of the studies (n = 171, 53%) addressed general health and well-being, while 49 (15%) focused on mental health conditions. Two-thirds of the studies (n = 220, 69%) were cross-sectional. Eight (3%) engaged with populations experiencing inequities, while 22 (29%) adapted recruitment methods to reach these populations. Further, 67 studies (21%) examined interaction effects primarily related to race or ethnicity (48%). Two-thirds of the studies (72%) adjusted for characteristics associated with inequities, and 18 studies (6%) used flow diagrams to depict how populations experiencing inequities progressed throughout the studies.Despite over 80% of the equity-focused observational studies providing a rationale for a focus on health equity, reporting of study design features relevant to health equity ranged from 0-95%, with over half of the items reported by less than one-quarter of studies. This methodological study is a baseline assessment to inform the development of an equity-focussed reporting guideline for observational studies as an extension of the well-known Strengthening Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guideline.
Authors & Co-authors:
Dewidar
Al-Zubaidi
Bondok
Abdelrazeq
Huang
Jearvis
Barker
Elmestekawy
Goghomu
Rader
Tufte
Greer-Smith
Waddington
Nicholls
Little
Hardy
Horsley
Young
Cuervo
Sharp
Chamberlain
Shea
Craig
Lawson
Rizvi
Wiysonge
Kredo
Francis
Kristjansson
Bhutta
Antequera
Melendez-Torres
Pantoja
Wang
Jull
Roberts
Funnell
White
Krentel
Mahande
Ramke
Wells
Petkovic
Pottie
Niba
Feng
Nguliefem
Tugwell
Mbuagbaw
Welch
Study Outcome
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