title: Literature survey of high-impact journals revealed reporting weaknesses in abstracts of diagnostic accuracy studies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Informative journal abstracts are crucial for the identification and initial appraisal of studies. We aimed to evaluate the informativeness of abstracts of diagnostic accuracy studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed was searched for reports of studies that had evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of a test against a clinical reference standard, published in 12 high-impact journals in 2012. Two reviewers independently evaluated the information contained in included abstracts using 21 items deemed important based on published guidance for adequate reporting and study quality assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 103 abstracts. Crucial information on study population, setting, patient sampling, and blinding as well as confidence intervals around accuracy estimates were reported in <50% of the abstracts. The mean number of reported items per abstract was 10.1 of 21 (standard deviation 2.2). The mean number of reported items was significantly lower for multiple-gate (case-control type) studies, in reports in specialty journals, and for studies with smaller sample sizes and lower abstract word counts. No significant differences were found between studies evaluating different types of tests.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many abstracts of diagnostic accuracy study reports in high-impact journals are insufficiently informative. Developing guidelines for such abstracts could help the transparency and completeness of reporting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: d.a.korevaar@amc.uva.nl.
authors.forename: Daniël A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Korevaar
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Pediatrics, Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris Descartes University, 149, rue de Sevres, 75015 Paris, France; Inserm, Obstetrical, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team, Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (U1153), Paris Descartes University, 53, avenue de l'Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jérémie F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Dutch Cochrane Centre, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Centre Utrecht, University Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lotty
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hooft
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Patrick M M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Bossuyt
mesh_terms: D000043:Abstracting and Indexing / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003933:Diagnosis; D063025:Health Information Management / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic
keywords: CONSORT statement; Diagnostic accuracy studies; EQUATOR network; Reporting quality; Research transparency; STARD statement