STROBE Compliance Checker

Audit observational study manuscripts against the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) 22-item checklist.

Workflow

1. Read the full manuscript
2. Identify the study design: cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional
3. Walk through each item below, noting design-specific sub-items
4. For each item, assign: Reported / Partial / Missing / N/A
5. Quote the relevant manuscript text (with line/page reference) as evidence
6. Output a compliance summary table + actionable fixes for Missing/Partial items

STROBE Checklist (22 Items)

Title and Abstract

#	Topic	Requirement
1a	Title	Indicate the study design with a commonly used term in the title or abstract
1b	Abstract	Provide an informative and balanced summary of what was done and found

Introduction

#	Topic	Requirement
2	Background/rationale	Explain the scientific background and rationale for the investigation
3	Objectives	State specific objectives, including any prespecified hypotheses

Methods

#	Topic	Requirement
4	Study design	Present key elements of study design early in the paper
5	Setting	Describe setting, locations, relevant dates (recruitment, exposure, follow-up, data collection)
6a	Participants	Cohort: eligibility criteria, sources/methods of selection, methods of follow-up. Case-control: eligibility, case ascertainment, control selection, rationale. Cross-sectional: eligibility, sources/methods of selection
6b	Participants	Cohort/Case-control: For matched studies, give matching criteria and number matched
7	Variables	Clearly define all outcomes, exposures, predictors, confounders, effect modifiers; give diagnostic criteria
8	Data sources	For each variable, give sources of data and methods of assessment; describe comparability across groups
9	Bias	Describe any efforts to address potential sources of bias
10	Study size	Explain how the study size was arrived at
11	Quantitative variables	Explain how quantitative variables were handled; describe groupings and rationale
12a	Statistical methods	Describe all statistical methods, including confounding control
12b	Statistical methods	Methods for subgroups and interactions
12c	Statistical methods	How missing data were addressed
12d	Statistical methods	Cohort: how loss to follow-up was addressed. Case-control: how matching was addressed. Cross-sectional: sampling strategy methods
12e	Statistical methods	Describe any sensitivity analyses

Results

#	Topic	Requirement
13a	Participants	Report numbers at each stage of study (eligible, examined, confirmed, included, completed, analysed)
13b	Participants	Give reasons for non-participation at each stage
13c	Participants	Consider use of a flow diagram
14a	Descriptive data	Characteristics of participants (demographic, clinical, social) and information on exposures/confounders
14b	Descriptive data	Number of participants with missing data for each variable
14c	Descriptive data	Cohort: Summarise follow-up time (average and total)
15	Outcome data	Cohort: numbers of outcome events or summary measures over time. Case-control: numbers in each exposure category. Cross-sectional: numbers of outcome events or summary measures
16a	Main results	Unadjusted estimates and confounder-adjusted estimates with precision (95% CI). State which confounders and why
16b	Main results	Report category boundaries when continuous variables were categorised
16c	Main results	If relevant, translate relative risk into absolute risk for a meaningful time period
17	Other analyses	Report subgroup analyses, interactions, sensitivity analyses

Discussion

#	Topic	Requirement
18	Key results	Summarise key results with reference to study objectives
19	Limitations	Discuss limitations: sources of bias/imprecision, direction and magnitude of potential bias
20	Interpretation	Cautious overall interpretation considering objectives, limitations, multiplicity, similar studies
21	Generalisability	Discuss external validity of results

Other Information

#	Topic	Requirement
22	Funding	Source of funding and role of funders

Design-Specific Attention

Design	Extra Focus
Cohort	Items 6b, 12d (follow-up), 14c (follow-up time), 15 (events over time)
Case-control	Items 6a-6b (case/control selection rationale, matching), 12d (matching analysis), 15 (exposure categories)
Cross-sectional	Items 6a (selection), 12d (sampling strategy), 15 (summary measures)

Common STROBE Gaps

Frequently Missing	Fix
Item 9 (Bias)	Add a dedicated paragraph on bias sources and mitigation strategies
Item 10 (Study size)	State sample size justification or explain it was convenience-based
Item 12c (Missing data)	Describe complete-case, imputation, or sensitivity approach
Item 14b (Missing data counts)	Add missingness counts per variable to Table 1 or supplement
Item 16a (Unadjusted + adjusted)	Report both crude and adjusted estimates with 95% CIs
Item 19 (Limitations direction)	Discuss direction of bias (toward/away from null), not just list weaknesses

Output Format

STROBE Compliance Report
Study design: [Cohort / Case-control / Cross-sectional]
Manuscript: [filename]

Summary: X/22 Reported | Y Partial | Z Missing | W N/A

MISSING ITEMS (priority fixes):
  [Item #] [Topic] — [What's needed]

PARTIAL ITEMS (improvements needed):
  [Item #] [Topic] — [What's present] → [What's missing]

FULLY REPORTED:
  [Item #] [Topic] ✓

Extensions

• STROBE-Equity (2024): 10 additional items for reporting health equity data. Use alongside core STROBE when the study addresses health disparities.
• RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely-collected Data): Extension for electronic health record / claims database studies.

Related Skills

• /manuscript — Overall manuscript writing and anti-pattern scanning
• /human-write — AI-flavored vocabulary detection