A Consensus-Based Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies (CROSS) / [28 autors]

Abstract

Background Surveys are used to collect data for various purposes. Although many surveys are published in high-impact journals, there are few guidelines for authors to follow in the reporting of survey research results. Studies have followed various and often inconsistent approaches in conducting and reporting surveys. Objective To develop a standard reporting checklist for survey studies to improve the quality of reporting of survey studies. Design A three-round Delphi survey on an expert panel. Participants A total of 24 experts in survey research studies who responded to our invitation. Main Measures The development of Checklist for Reporting Of Survey Studies (CROSS) included five phases: i) planning; ii) drafting of checklist items; iii) consensus-building using the Delphi method; iv) dissemination of guidelines; and v) maintenance of guidelines. A 1 to 5 Likert scale was used for rating the items. A preset 70% agreement (70% of experts rating 4/5 or 5/5) was used for including an item in the final checklist. The first round of Delphi was conducted using the SurveyMonkey platform where experts could comment, modify items, or propose new items. Items that did not reach consensus were rerated in subsequent rounds. Key Results The primary items included in CROSS were: Title and abstract; Introduction (i.e., background and purpose/aim); Methods (i.e., study design, data collection methods, sample characteristics, survey administration, study preparation, ethical considerations, and statistical analysis); Results (i.e., respondent characteristics, descriptive results, and main findings); Discussion (i.e., limitations, interpretations, and generalizability); and other sections (i.e., role of funding source, conflict of interest, and acknowledgements). Items such as, questionnaire description, multiple participation, modes of survey administration and nonresponse rate were also included in the checklist. Conclusions CROSS has the potential to improve the transparency, reproducibility, and reporting quality of survey studies.