Completeness of reporting for COVID-19 case reports, January to April 2020: a meta-epidemiologic study

Abstract

Background: The quality of case reports, which are often the first reported evidence for a disease, may be negatively affected by a rush to publication early in a pandemic. We aimed to determine the completeness of reporting (COR) for case reports published on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods:We conducted a systematic search of the PubMed database for all single-patient case reports of confirmed COVID-19 published from Jan. 1 to Apr. 24, 2020. All included case reports were assessed for adherence to the CARE (Case Report) 31-item checklist, which was used to create a composite COR score. The primary outcome was the mean COR score assessed by 2 independent raters. Secondary outcomes included whether there was a change in overall COR score with certain publication factors (e.g., publication date) and whether there was a linear relation between COR and citation count and between COR scores and social media attention.Results: Our search identified 196 studies that were published in 114 unique journals. We found that the overall mean COR score was 54.4%. No one case report included all of the 31 CARE checklist items. There was no significant correlation between COR with either citation count or social media attention. Interpretation:We found that the overall COR for case reports on COVID-19 was poor. We suggest that journals adopt common case-reporting standards to improve reporting quality.

Analysis of the reporting requirements of clinical case reports dedicated Journals: Towards updating the CARE guideline

“…Studies of CARE adaptations have also shown that in most case reports, consent form, patients’ perspective, timeline, follow-up and outcomes, and diagnostic assessment elements are not reported. [ 9 10 18 ] To justify this, it can be said that when the instructions of the journals do not provide a correct explanation of the reporting elements of case reports, the authors pay less attention to these elements when writing the case report.…”

NeuroCOVID-19: a critical review

“…Many of these reports make the case for a theoretical COVID-19-specific disease mechanism in the discussion sections, with mechanicist rationales based on laboratory studies or theoretical reasoning, and with very limited support from clinical studies. The average quality of COVID-19 case reports is very low - a systematic review of 196 case reports showed the adherence to CARE guidelines 45 was poor, with a mean composite score for completeness of reporting 46 of 54.%, much lower than the proposed threshold of 75% 47 .…”

“…Low-quality case reports are not unique to the COVID-19 pandemic 47 , but the rate of incomplete reports is too high. This is potentially dangerous because the overall completeness of recording does not correlate with article citation or social media exposure, which may lead to harmful biases 47 . In the author’s opinion, the limits of case reports have been dangerously bent, and most COVID-19 case reports are of very limited value.…”

Adolescents with Vulvar Ulcers: COVID-19 disease, COVID-19 Vaccines, and the Value of Case Reports

“…However, not all journals adhere to these guidelines, and a review of COVID-19 case reports found that compliance was uneven. 13 …”