title: Methods and Processes of Developing the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology - Veterinary (STROBE-Vet) Statement.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reporting of observational studies in veterinary research presents challenges that often are not addressed in published reporting guidelines.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop an extension of the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) statement that addresses unique reporting requirements for observational studies in veterinary medicine related to health, production, welfare, and food safety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consensus meeting of experts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mississauga, Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen experts from North America, Europe, and Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Experts completed a pre-meeting survey about whether items in the STROBE statement should be modified or added to address unique issues related to observational studies in animal species with health, production, welfare, or food safety outcomes. During the meeting, each STROBE item was discussed to determine whether or not rewording was recommended and whether additions were warranted. Anonymous voting was used to determine consensus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six items required no modifications or additions. Modifications or additions were made to the STROBE items 1 (title and abstract), 3 (objectives), 5 (setting), 6 (participants), 7 (variables), 8 (data sources/measurement), 9 (bias), 10 (study size), 12 (statistical methods), 13 (participants), 14 (descriptive data), 15 (outcome data), 16 (main results), 17 (other analyses), 19 (limitations), and 22 (funding).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The methods and processes used were similar to those used for other extensions of the STROBE statement. The use of this STROBE statement extension should improve reporting of observational studies in veterinary research by recognizing unique features of observational studies involving food-producing and companion animals, products of animal origin, aquaculture, and wildlife.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.|Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sargeant
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Centre for Veterinary Epidemiological Research, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada.
authors.forename: I R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Dohoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Erb
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cevallos
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Egger
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ersbøll
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Section for Animal Welfare and Disease Control, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Pearl
authors.affiliation: Department of Production and Population Health, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK.
authors.forename: D U
authors.initials: DU
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Torrence
authors.affiliation: Unit for Genomic Epidemiology, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vigre
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Waldner
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000592:standards; D000818:Animals; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D058028:Research Report / Q000592:standards*; D014730:Veterinary Medicine
keywords: Animal Health; Animal Reporting guidelines; Animal welfare; Food Safety; Observational studies; Production