Adaptation of case report guidelines on published case reports in the Indian Medical Journals from 2020 to 2021: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Case reports are detailed reports of a patient's specific medical problem and its clinical management. They serve as the initial evidence for the generation of hypothesis for any novel disease. However, incomplete reporting results in false inferences. Methods: The objective of this study was to assess the adherence of case reports published in Indian Medical Journals (IMJs) to Case Report (CARE) 2016 guidelines, to assess the extent of endorsement of these guidelines by the selected IMJs and its impact on the completeness of reporting (COR) score. The journals published by the Associations of 12 Indian medical specialities, namely, Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venerology and Leprology, Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, Indian Journal of Orthopaedics, Indian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery, Indian Paediatrics, Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Indian Journal of Psychiatry, Indian Journal of Surgery, Journal of Association of Physicians India, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Lung India between 2020 and 2021 were accessed for completeness as per CARE guidelines. The effect of CARE endorsement on the COR was determined. Results: None of the 590 case reports met all the CARE guidelines. Major areas of reporting deficiencies were title, timeline, patient perspective and informed consent. No association between COR and the impact factor of the journal. Conclusions: The quality of case reporting with respect to CARE 2016 checklist is not satisfactory. The endorsement of the CARE checklist in the journal must be made mandatory to generate high-quality case reports.

Keywords

• case report guidelines
• case reports
• guidelines adherence
• indian medical journals
• quality of reporting