HOW TO BE CONSCIOUS PRODUCERS OF NUTRITION RESEARCH

HOW TO BE CONSCIOUS PRODUCERS OF NUTRITION RESEARCH? TOOLS AND GUIDANCE TO OPTIMIZE THE QUALITY OF RESEARCH Dana Hawwash, Ph. D Candidate Food technology, safety and health Department Ghent University http: //www. betternutritionresearch. ugent. be 1

Outline Setting the scene –Wasted resources in research The situation of reporting status in nutritional epidemiology research Development of reporting guidelines for nutritional epidemiology (STROBE-nut) How (NOT) to use STROBE-nut Exercise 2

Setting the scene – Wasted resources in research http: //www. betternutritionresearch. ugent. be 3

2014 Lancet series on research waste Investment in biomedical research in 2010 US $240 billion 80% does not add value https: //www. thelancet. com/series/research

Why? Leaks along the research cycle u Incomplete (and non) reporting u Access …paywalls, time lag between research and dissemination of findings u Biased reporting Priority setting and questions selection u Driven by (non)-commercial interest and public opinion u Poor consideration of existing knowledge, ongoing research and user needs Research design and outcome definition Research reporting and publishing Data management and analysis u Poor outcomes and modifications u Poor protocols and designs u Poor data analysis and transparency of analysis u Poor re-use of existing data u Obsession for P values Framework After Macleod Lancet 20145

Completeness of research reporting and reporting guidelines http: //www. betternutritionresearch. ugent. be 6

Example: When reporting goes wrong There is no significant difference when using parachute to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft randomized controlled trials (https: //doi. org/10. 1136/bmj. k 5094) What could the reason be? 7

What happened in reality 8

Can a checklist be a solution? Types of errors: u Ignorance u Ineptitude Failure in the modern world, is about the second of error. Examples: surgeons, pilots, people who build skyscrapers. Solution: Experts need checklists–literally–written guides that walk them through the key steps in any complex procedure. Can this work in nutritional epidemiology research? Let’s see 9

What are reporting guidelines? Tools for authors and reviewers to ensure completeness and transparency of manuscripts of scientific studies Contain items to be reported in a paper Organized mainly u. As a checklist, explicit text, a flow diagram or a combination u. Following the structure of a research paper (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion) Examples: CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE

Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology-nutritional epidemiology (STROBE-nut) http: //www. strobe-nut. org 11

Nutritional Epidemiology Indications that reporting is problematic Magnitude is unclear th 5 E. g. 13 of the 17 literature reviews for the revision of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations report a lack of methodological details causing 1 lower quality rating or exclusion of papers. 1 Nordic Council of Ministers (2014)

Methods Collaboration between 4 research groups with 21 experts Input from 3 online consultation rounds with 53 external experts Consensus through 3 face to face meetings Delphi I 48 experts provided input Delphi II 35 experts provided input Delphi III 42 experts provided input Items kept when consensus was Items kept when >70% consensus was >80% https: //www. equator-network. org

STROBE-nut in a nutshell STROBE-nut is summarised as a list of 24 items that apply for nutritional epidemiology and dietary assessment http: //www. strobe-nut. org STROBE-nut elaboration and explanation document http: //www. strobe-nut. org/content/how-use-strobe-nut Referred to in the guide for authors by 6 Journals I will walk you through two items (nut item 5 and 8. 1) 15

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Example: STROBE-nut 5 Example 1. “In …area, an embankment was constructed between 1982 and 1989 on the banks of the rivers …. . . The study villages are therefore also categorized in relation to whether they are situated inside or outside the embankment. This embankment has a great impact on the pattern and production of major crops and fish on both sides and is believed to have an effect on food availability and consumption, which, in turn, could lead to effects on nutritional status”. 17

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STROBE-nut is NOT • A straitjacket for research papers Restrictions in writing style, creativity or clarity of papers Instructions that interfere with the editorial or review process • Quality appraisal tools for studies 23

STROBE-nut application Exercise applying strobe-nut on the method section of a selected paper (15 min) http: //www. strobe-nut. org 24

Exercise Identify sentences for STROBE-nut 5 and 8. 1 in the method section of the following paper: Lam et a. L (2017) Association between home food preparation skills and behaviour, and consumption of ultra-processed foods: Cross-sectional analysis of the UK National Diet and nutrition survey (2008 -2009). Int J Behav Nutr Phys 25

Exercise’s answer STROBE-nut 5 (page 3 paragraph 2) 26

Exercise’s answer Strobe nut 8. 1 (page 3 paragraph 2) 27

User Understanding of STROBE-nut items Efforts are needed to promote correct use of reporting guidelines in the user community Considerations are also needed on the side of guideline developers We have test authors’ experience of applying STROBE -nut a recently published paper 28

Thank you for your attention Any questions?

Dana Hawwash MS, Ph. D Candidate FOOD TECHNOLOGY, SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH GROUP FOOD AND NUTRITION EPIDEMIOLOGY Ghent University E T +32 9 264 9377 www. ugent. be dana. hawwash@ugent. be Universiteit Gent danahawwash @ugent danahawwash