Development of the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) guideline
Development of the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) guideline
Background: observational studies are increasingly used to inform health decision-making when randomised trials are not feasible, ethical or timely. The target trial approach provides a framework to help minimise common biases in observational studies that aim to estimate the causal effect of interventions. Incomplete reporting of studies using the target trial framework limits the ability for clinicians, researchers, patients and other decision-makers to appraise, synthesise and interpret findings to inform clinical and public health practice and policy. This paper describes the methods that we will use to develop the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) reporting guideline.
Methods design: the TARGET reporting guideline will be developed in five stages following recommended guidance. The first stage will identify target trial reporting practices by systematically reviewing published studies that explicitly emulated a target trial. The second stage will identify and refine items to be considered for inclusion in the TARGET guideline by consulting content experts using sequential online surveys. The third stage will prioritise and consolidate key items to be included in the TARGET guideline at an in-person consensus meeting of TARGET investigators. The fourth stage will produce and pilot-test both the TARGET guideline and explanation and elaboration document with relevant stakeholders. The fifth stage will disseminate the TARGET guideline and resources via journals, conferences and courses.
Ethics and dissemination: ethical approval for the survey has been attained (HC220536). The TARGET guideline will be disseminated widely in partnership with stakeholders to maximise adoption and improve reporting of these studies.
EPIDEMIOLOGY, Retrospective Studies, STATISTICS & RESEARCH METHODS
Hansford, Harrison J.
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Cashin, Aidan G.
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Jones, Matthew D.
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Swanson, Sonja A.
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Islam, Nazrul
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Dahabreh, Issa J.
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Dickerman, Barbra A.
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Egger, Matthias
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Garcia-Albeniz, Xavier
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Golub, Robert M.
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Lodi, Sara
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Moreno-Betancur, Margarita
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Pearson, Sallie-Anne
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Schneeweiss, Sebastian
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Sterne, Jonathan
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Sharp, Melissa K.
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Stuart, Elizabeth A.
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Hernan, Miguel A.
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Lee, Hopin
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McAuley, James H.
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12 September 2023
Hansford, Harrison J.
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Cashin, Aidan G.
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Jones, Matthew D.
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Swanson, Sonja A.
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Islam, Nazrul
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Dahabreh, Issa J.
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Dickerman, Barbra A.
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Egger, Matthias
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Garcia-Albeniz, Xavier
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Golub, Robert M.
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Lodi, Sara
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Moreno-Betancur, Margarita
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Pearson, Sallie-Anne
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Schneeweiss, Sebastian
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Sterne, Jonathan
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Sharp, Melissa K.
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Stuart, Elizabeth A.
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Hernan, Miguel A.
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Lee, Hopin
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McAuley, James H.
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Hansford, Harrison J., Cashin, Aidan G., Jones, Matthew D., Swanson, Sonja A., Islam, Nazrul, Dahabreh, Issa J., Dickerman, Barbra A., Egger, Matthias, Garcia-Albeniz, Xavier, Golub, Robert M., Lodi, Sara, Moreno-Betancur, Margarita, Pearson, Sallie-Anne, Schneeweiss, Sebastian, Sterne, Jonathan, Sharp, Melissa K., Stuart, Elizabeth A., Hernan, Miguel A., Lee, Hopin and McAuley, James H.
(2023)
Development of the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) guideline.
BMJ Open, 13 (9), [e074626].
(doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074626).
Abstract
Background: observational studies are increasingly used to inform health decision-making when randomised trials are not feasible, ethical or timely. The target trial approach provides a framework to help minimise common biases in observational studies that aim to estimate the causal effect of interventions. Incomplete reporting of studies using the target trial framework limits the ability for clinicians, researchers, patients and other decision-makers to appraise, synthesise and interpret findings to inform clinical and public health practice and policy. This paper describes the methods that we will use to develop the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) reporting guideline.
Methods design: the TARGET reporting guideline will be developed in five stages following recommended guidance. The first stage will identify target trial reporting practices by systematically reviewing published studies that explicitly emulated a target trial. The second stage will identify and refine items to be considered for inclusion in the TARGET guideline by consulting content experts using sequential online surveys. The third stage will prioritise and consolidate key items to be included in the TARGET guideline at an in-person consensus meeting of TARGET investigators. The fourth stage will produce and pilot-test both the TARGET guideline and explanation and elaboration document with relevant stakeholders. The fifth stage will disseminate the TARGET guideline and resources via journals, conferences and courses.
Ethics and dissemination: ethical approval for the survey has been attained (HC220536). The TARGET guideline will be disseminated widely in partnership with stakeholders to maximise adoption and improve reporting of these studies.
Text
e074626.full
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 25 August 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 September 2023
Published date: 12 September 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
There was no specific funding for this study. HJH was supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Postgraduate Scholarship, a PhD Top-Up Scholarship from Neuroscience Research Australia, and was a Neuroscience Research Australia PhD Pearl sponsored by Sandra Salteri AO. AGC was supported by an Australian NHMRC Investigator Grant (ID 2010088). MM-B was supported by an Australian NHMRC Investigator Grant (ID 2009572). JHM was supported by an Australian NHMRC Investigator Grant (ID 2010128). BAD was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R00 CA248335). ME was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 AI152772-01, 5U01-AI069924-05) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (32FP30-174281). NI was supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (HDRUK2022.0313) and the UK Office for National Statistics (2002563). MAH was supported by NIH grant R37 AI102634.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
EPIDEMIOLOGY, Retrospective Studies, STATISTICS & RESEARCH METHODS
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 483304
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483304
ISSN: 2044-6055
PURE UUID: 9ee45b7d-65bb-416e-9ab5-11c95c2ffeb5
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Date deposited: 27 Oct 2023 16:47
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:15
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Contributors
Author:
Harrison J. Hansford
Author:
Aidan G. Cashin
Author:
Matthew D. Jones
Author:
Sonja A. Swanson
Author:
Nazrul Islam
Author:
Issa J. Dahabreh
Author:
Barbra A. Dickerman
Author:
Matthias Egger
Author:
Xavier Garcia-Albeniz
Author:
Robert M. Golub
Author:
Sara Lodi
Author:
Margarita Moreno-Betancur
Author:
Sallie-Anne Pearson
Author:
Sebastian Schneeweiss
Author:
Jonathan Sterne
Author:
Melissa K. Sharp
Author:
Elizabeth A. Stuart
Author:
Miguel A. Hernan
Author:
Hopin Lee
Author:
James H. McAuley
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