Intro: Objectives (3)
The item from STROBE states that you should report:
- State specific objectives, including any prespecified hypotheses
Some key items to consider adding
- Mention both primary and secondary pre-specified hypotheses. If the report does not cover all, consider explaining why (covered by another publication, reference protocol, etc.)
- If the research is exploratory in nature, state it
Explanation
Objectives are the detailed aims of the study. Well crafted objectives specify populations, exposures and outcomes, and parameters that will be estimated. They may be formulated as specific hypotheses or as questions that the study was designed to address. In some situations objectives may be less specific, for example, in early discovery phases. Regardless, the report should clearly reflect the investigators’ intentions. For example, if important subgroups or additional analyses were not the original aim of the study but arose during data analysis, they should be described accordingly (see also items 4, 17 and 20).
Example
“Our primary objectives were to 1) determine the prevalence of domestic violence among female patients presenting to four community-based, primary care, adult medicine practices that serve patients of diverse socioeconomic background and 2) identify demographic and clinical differences between currently abused patients and patients not currently being abused” (McCauley, 1995).
Field-specific guidance
Molecular epidemiology (Gallo et al., 2012)
- A priori hypothesis: if one or more biomarkers are used as proxy measures, state the a priori hypothesis on the expected values of the biomarker(s)
Infectious disease molecular epidemiology (Field et al., 2014)
- State the epidemiological objectives of using molecular typing
Genetic association studies (Little et al., 2009)
- State if the study is the first report of a genetic association, a replication effort, or both.
Seroepidemiologic studies for influenza (Horby et al., 2017)
- State the specific measure of occurrence that is being estimated, for example, point seroprevalence, cumulative incidence of infection, secondary infection risk
Veterinary epidemiology [oconnor2016]
- Ensure that the level of organization is clear for each objective and hypothesis
References
Field, N., Cohen, T., Struelens, M. J., Palm, D., Cookson, B., Glynn, J. R., Gallo, V., Ramsay, M., Sonnenberg, P., MacCannell, D., Charlett, A., Egger, M., Green, J., Vineis, P., & Abubakar, I. (2014). Strengthening the Reporting of Molecular Epidemiology for Infectious Diseases (STROME-ID): An extension of the STROBE statement. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 14(4), 341–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70324-4
Gallo, V., Egger, M., McCormack, V., Farmer, P. B., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Kirsch-Volders, M., Matullo, G., Phillips, D. H., Schoket, B., Stromberg, U., Vermeulen, R., Wild, C., Porta, M., & Vineis, P. (2012). STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology Molecular Epidemiology (STROBE-ME): An extension of the STROBE statement. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 42(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2362.2011.02561.x
Horby, P. W., Laurie, K. L., Cowling, B. J., Engelhardt, O. G., Sturm-Ramirez, K., Sanchez, J. L., Katz, J. M., Uyeki, T. M., Wood, J., Van Kerkhove, M. D., & the CONSISE Steering Committee. (2017). CONSISE statement on the reporting of Seroepidemiologic Studies for influenza (ROSES-I statement): An extension of the STROBE statement. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 11(1), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/irv.12411
Little, J., Higgins, J. P. T., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Moher, D., Gagnon, F., Elm, E. von, Khoury, M. J., Cohen, B., Davey-Smith, G., Grimshaw, J., Scheet, P., Gwinn, M., Williamson, R. E., Zou, G. Y., Hutchings, K., Johnson, C. Y., Tait, V., Wiens, M., Golding, J., … Birkett, N. (2009). STrengthening the REporting of Genetic Association Studies (STREGA)— An Extension of the STROBE Statement. PLOS Med, 6(2), e1000022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000022
McCauley, J. (1995). The Battering syndrome: Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Domestic Violence in Primary Care Internal Medicine Practices. Annals of Internal Medicine, 123(10), 737. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-123-10-199511150-00001