Knowledge Required for Articles: The Items to Be Included in Case Reports and Observational Study Articles

Abstract

Aim:　Clinical practice and research on swallowing rehabilitation is a new field compared with other diseases and disorders, and there are still many unknown matters. In order to develop swallowing rehabilitation in the future, it is necessary to conduct many studies and to publish the findings. The aim of this article is introduce guidelines for research reports to clinicians intending to write an article, and to provide materials for writing such articles and collecting necessary information.

Method:　Many articles submitted to the Japanese Journal of Swallowing Rehabilitation are case reports, case-control studies, cohort studies and cross-sectional studies. Therefore, this article introduces the Case Report (CARE) guidelines for case reporting and the items to be included in the checklist in observational studies which were drafted in The Strengthening of Observational Studies in Epidemiology Statement (STROBE statement).

Results:　Regarding the CARE guidelines, we described a 13-item checklist proposed to increase the accuracy, transparency and usefulness of case reports. As for the STROBE statement, we explained a checklist of 22 items that should be included in observational study reports, to improve the quality of research reports.

Conclusion:　Ideally, all the items recommended by these two guidelines should be listed, but it is difficult to cover all of them. However, with the items indicated in these guidelines in mind, daily clinical practice could enrich medical records and lead to presentations at conferences and dissertations according to the guidelines, thus not only improving the quality of individual clinicians, but also leading to further clinical research and research on swallowing rehabilitation. We hope that this paper will help increase the number of excellent articles and eventually the further development of clinical practice and research on swallowing rehabilitation.