Barriers to reporting guideline adherence in point-of-care ultrasound research: a cross-sectional survey of authors and journal editors

Correspondence to Dr Ross Prager, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; [email protected]

Summary box

What is already known about this subject?

• The complete reporting of primary diagnostic accuracy studies is important to generalise research into practice, detect bias, and to perform informative systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

• The point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) literature has previously been shown to have moderate reporting quality based on adherence to the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) 2015 guidelines.

• Study investigator-identified and journal editor-identified barriers to complete reporting have not previously been studied for the POCUS literature.

What are the new findings?

• In this survey sent to study investigators and journal editors, knowledge gaps pertaining to STARD 2015 guidelines were identified.

• A shared belief by investigators and editors that the peer review process should primarily be responsible for complete reporting was found.

• The English language of publication of the STARD 2015 guidelines was reported by some authors as a potential barrier to adherence.

Summary box

How might it impact clinical practice in the foreseeable future?

• This study highlights the need for increased promotion of reporting guidelines among POCUS researchers.

• We challenge the view that the peer review process be primarily responsible for complete reporting and believe that authors should take responsibility for completely reporting their research as a core component of the research process.

• Translation of STARD 2015 to more languages may help global reporting of the POCUS literature.

Introduction

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become a valuable tool for acute care medicine clinicians.^1–5 In contrast to consultative ultrasound where the provider’s role in patient care is limited to the test itself, POCUS is interpreted in real time and used to inform immediate management decisions.^{1–3 6–8}

While the diagnostic accuracy of radiology-interpreted ultrasound has been well studied for numerous applications,^9–13 the diagnostic accuracy of POCUS for various clinical conditions is still being established.^14–17 Studies assessing diagnostic accuracy may have variable completeness of reporting.^{18 19} Incomplete reporting can limit the ability to detect bias, impede assessment of the generalisability of study results and hinder reproducibility.²⁰ Incomplete reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies can also prevent informative and unbiased systematic reviews and meta-analyses from being performed and therefore have potential downstream negative effects on...