Improving social justice in observational studies: protocol for the development of a global and Indigenous STROBE-equity reporting guideline

Sarah Funnell; Janet Jull; Lawrence Mbuagbaw; Vivian Welch; Omar Dewidar; Xiaoqin Wang; Miranda Lesperance; Elizabeth Ghogomu; Anita Rizvi; Elie A Akl; Marc T Avey; Alba Antequera; Zulfiqar A Bhutta; Catherine Chamberlain; Peter Craig; Luis Gabriel Cuervo; Alassane Dicko; Holly Ellingwood; Cindy Feng; Damian Francis; Regina Greer-Smith; Billie-Jo Hardy; Matire Harwood; Janet Hatcher-Roberts; Tanya Horsley; Clara Juando-Prats; Mwenya Kasonde; Michelle Kennedy; Tamara Kredo; Alison Krentel; Elizabeth Kristjansson; Laurenz Langer; Julian Little; Elizabeth Loder; Olivia Magwood; Michael Johnson Mahande; G J Melendez-Torres; Ainsley Moore; Loveline Lum Niba; Stuart G Nicholls; Miriam Nguilefem Nkangu; Daeria O Lawson; Ekwaro Obuku; Patrick Okwen; Tomas Pantoja; Jennifer Petkovic; Mark Petticrew; Kevin Pottie; Tamara Rader; Jacqueline Ramke; Alison Riddle; Larissa Shamseer; Melissa Sharp; Bev Shea; Peter Tanuseputro; Peter Tugwell; Janice Tufte; Erik Von Elm; Hugh Sharma Waddington; Harry Wang; Laura Weeks; George Wells; Howard White; Charles Shey Wiysonge; Luke Wolfenden; Taryn Young

doi:10.1186/s12939-023-01854-1

Improving social justice in observational studies: protocol for the development of a global and Indigenous STROBE-equity reporting guideline

Int J Equity Health. 2023 Mar 30;22(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s12939-023-01854-1.

Authors

Sarah Funnell^{1

2}, Janet Jull³, Lawrence Mbuagbaw⁴, Vivian Welch^{5

6}, Omar Dewidar⁷, Xiaoqin Wang⁸, Miranda Lesperance⁹, Elizabeth Ghogomu⁷, Anita Rizvi¹⁰, Elie A Akl^{4

11}, Marc T Avey¹², Alba Antequera¹³, Zulfiqar A Bhutta^{14

15}, Catherine Chamberlain^{16

17}, Peter Craig¹⁸, Luis Gabriel Cuervo^{19

20}, Alassane Dicko²¹, Holly Ellingwood²², Cindy Feng²³, Damian Francis²⁴, Regina Greer-Smith²⁵, Billie-Jo Hardy^{26

27}, Matire Harwood²⁸, Janet Hatcher-Roberts²⁹, Tanya Horsley³⁰, Clara Juando-Prats^{31

32}, Mwenya Kasonde³³, Michelle Kennedy³⁴, Tamara Kredo^{35

36}, Alison Krentel^{7

9}, Elizabeth Kristjansson³⁷, Laurenz Langer³⁸, Julian Little⁹, Elizabeth Loder³⁹, Olivia Magwood^{9

37}, Michael Johnson Mahande⁴⁰, G J Melendez-Torres⁴¹, Ainsley Moore⁴², Loveline Lum Niba⁴³, Stuart G Nicholls⁴⁴, Miriam Nguilefem Nkangu⁹, Daeria O Lawson⁴, Ekwaro Obuku⁴⁵, Patrick Okwen⁴³, Tomas Pantoja⁴⁶, Jennifer Petkovic^{7

44}, Mark Petticrew⁴⁷, Kevin Pottie^{9

48}, Tamara Rader⁴⁹, Jacqueline Ramke^{50

51}, Alison Riddle⁹, Larissa Shamseer⁴⁴, Melissa Sharp⁵², Bev Shea⁴², Peter Tanuseputro⁴⁴, Peter Tugwell^{9

44

53}, Janice Tufte⁵⁴, Erik Von Elm⁵⁵, Hugh Sharma Waddington⁵⁶, Harry Wang^{7

53}, Laura Weeks⁵⁷, George Wells^{2

58}, Howard White⁵⁹, Charles Shey Wiysonge^{35

36

60}, Luke Wolfenden³⁶, Taryn Young³⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
² Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
³ School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
⁴ Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
⁵ Bruyère Research Institute, Bruyère Continuing Care and University of Ottawa, 85 Primrose, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. [email protected].
⁶ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. [email protected].
⁷ Bruyère Research Institute, Bruyère Continuing Care and University of Ottawa, 85 Primrose, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
⁹ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
¹⁰ School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
¹² Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.
¹³ International Health Department, ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
¹⁴ Centre for Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
¹⁵ Institute for Global Health & Development, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
¹⁶ Indigenous Health Equity Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁷ Judith Lumley Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁸ MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
¹⁹ Unit of Health Services and Access, Department of Health Systems and Services, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Washington, DC, USA.
²⁰ Doctoral School, Department of Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and Preventive Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
²¹ Malaria Research and Training Center, University of Sciences, Techniques, and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali.
²² Department of Psychology, Department of Law, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
²³ Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
²⁴ School of Health and Human Performance, Georgia College, Milledgville, USA.
²⁵ Healthcare Research Associates, LLC/S.T.A.R. Initiative, Los Angeles, USA.
²⁶ Well Living House, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
²⁷ Waakebiness Institute for Indigenous Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
²⁸ General Practice and Primary Healthcare, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
²⁹ WHO Collaborating Centre for Knowledge Translation and Health Technology Assessment in Health Equity, Ottawa, Canada.
³⁰ Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
³¹ Applied Health Research Center, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
³² Dalla School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
³³ Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.
³⁴ School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
³⁵ Centre for Evidence Based Health Care, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
³⁶ Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
³⁷ Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
³⁸ Africa Centre for Evidence, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³⁹ The BMJ, London, UK.
⁴⁰ Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Institute of Public Health, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College, Moshi, Tanzania.
⁴¹ University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health, Exeter, UK.
⁴² Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
⁴³ Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon.
⁴⁴ Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴⁵ College of Health Sciences, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴⁶ Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
⁴⁷ Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁴⁸ Department of Family Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
⁴⁹ Freelance Health Research Librarian, Ottawa, Canada.
⁵⁰ International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁵¹ School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁵² Health Research Board Centre for Primary Care Research, Department of General Practice, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
⁵³ Department of Medicine , University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁵⁴ Hassanah Consulting, Seattle, WA, 98122, USA.
⁵⁵ Cochrane Switzerland, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁵⁶ London International Development Centre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁵⁷ Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁵⁸ University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁵⁹ Campbell Collaboration, Oslow, Norway.
⁶⁰ HIV and other Infectious Diseases Research Unit, Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

Background: Addressing persistent and pervasive health inequities is a global moral imperative, which has been highlighted and magnified by the societal and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Observational studies can aid our understanding of the impact of health and structural oppression based on the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, age and other factors, as they frequently collect this data. However, the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guideline, does not provide guidance related to reporting of health equity. The goal of this project is to develop a STROBE-Equity reporting guideline extension.

Methods: We assembled a diverse team across multiple domains, including gender, age, ethnicity, Indigenous background, disciplines, geographies, lived experience of health inequity and decision-making organizations. Using an inclusive, integrated knowledge translation approach, we will implement a five-phase plan which will include: (1) assessing the reporting of health equity in published observational studies, (2) seeking wide international feedback on items to improve reporting of health equity, (3) establishing consensus amongst knowledge users and researchers, (4) evaluating in partnership with Indigenous contributors the relevance to Indigenous peoples who have globally experienced the oppressive legacy of colonization, and (5) widely disseminating and seeking endorsement from relevant knowledge users. We will seek input from external collaborators using social media, mailing lists and other communication channels.

Discussion: Achieving global imperatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (e.g., SDG 10 Reduced inequalities, SDG 3 Good health and wellbeing) requires advancing health equity in research. The implementation of the STROBE-Equity guidelines will enable a better awareness and understanding of health inequities through better reporting. We will broadly disseminate the reporting guideline with tools to enable adoption and use by journal editors, authors, and funding agencies, using diverse strategies tailored to specific audiences.

Keywords: Health equity; Observational studies; Reporting guidelines; Social justice.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19
Health Inequities*
Humans
Indigenous Peoples
Observational Studies as Topic*
Pandemics
Research Design
Social Justice*
Sustainable Development

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding