Development of the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) guideline

Harrison J. Hansford; Aidan G. Cashin; Matthew D. Jones; Sonja A. Swanson; Nazrul Islam; Issa J. Dahabreh; Barbra A. Dickerman; Matthias Egger; Xavier Garcia-Albeniz; Robert M. Golub; Sara Lodi; Margarita Moreno-Betancur; Sallie Anne Pearson; Sebastian Schneeweiss; Jonathan Sterne; Melissa K. Sharp; Elizabeth A. Stuart; Miguel A. Hernan; Hopin Lee; James H. McAuley

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074626

Development of the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) guideline

Harrison J. Hansford^*, Aidan G. Cashin, Matthew D. Jones, Sonja A. Swanson, Nazrul Islam, Issa J. Dahabreh, Barbra A. Dickerman, Matthias Egger, Xavier Garcia-Albeniz, Robert M. Golub, Sara Lodi, Margarita Moreno-Betancur, Sallie Anne Pearson, Sebastian Schneeweiss, Jonathan Sterne, Melissa K. Sharp, Elizabeth A. Stuart, Miguel A. Hernan, Hopin Lee, James H. McAuley

^*Corresponding author for this work

Medicine, General Medicine Division

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background Observational studies are increasingly used to inform health decision-making when randomised trials are not feasible, ethical or timely. The target trial approach provides a framework to help minimise common biases in observational studies that aim to estimate the causal effect of interventions. Incomplete reporting of studies using the target trial framework limits the ability for clinicians, researchers, patients and other decision-makers to appraise, synthesise and interpret findings to inform clinical and public health practice and policy. This paper describes the methods that we will use to develop the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) reporting guideline. Methods/design The TARGET reporting guideline will be developed in five stages following recommended guidance. The first stage will identify target trial reporting practices by systematically reviewing published studies that explicitly emulated a target trial. The second stage will identify and refine items to be considered for inclusion in the TARGET guideline by consulting content experts using sequential online surveys. The third stage will prioritise and consolidate key items to be included in the TARGET guideline at an in-person consensus meeting of TARGET investigators. The fourth stage will produce and pilot-test both the TARGET guideline and explanation and elaboration document with relevant stakeholders. The fifth stage will disseminate the TARGET guideline and resources via journals, conferences and courses. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for the survey has been attained (HC220536). The TARGET guideline will be disseminated widely in partnership with stakeholders to maximise adoption and improve reporting of these studies.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e074626
Journal	BMJ open
Volume	13
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074626
State	Published - Sep 12 2023

Funding

There was no specific funding for this study. HJH was supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Postgraduate Scholarship, a PhD Top-Up Scholarship from Neuroscience Research Australia, and was a Neuroscience Research Australia PhD Pearl sponsored by Sandra Salteri AO. AGC was supported by an Australian NHMRC Investigator Grant (ID 2010088). MM-B was supported by an Australian NHMRC Investigator Grant (ID 2009572). JHM was supported by an Australian NHMRC Investigator Grant (ID 2010128). BAD was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R00 CA248335). ME was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 AI152772-01, 5U01-AI069924-05) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (32FP30-174281). NI was supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (HDRUK2022.0313) and the UK Office for National Statistics (2002563). MAH was supported by NIH grant R37 AI102634.

Keywords

EPIDEMIOLOGY
Retrospective Studies
STATISTICS & RESEARCH METHODS

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Medicine

Access to Document

10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074626

Cite this

Hansford, H. J., Cashin, A. G., Jones, M. D., Swanson, S. A., Islam, N., Dahabreh, I. J., Dickerman, B. A., Egger, M., Garcia-Albeniz, X., Golub, R. M., Lodi, S., Moreno-Betancur, M., Pearson, S. A., Schneeweiss, S., Sterne, J., Sharp, M. K., Stuart, E. A., Hernan, M. A., Lee, H., & McAuley, J. H. (2023). Development of the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) guideline. BMJ open, 13(9), Article e074626. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074626

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abstract = "Background Observational studies are increasingly used to inform health decision-making when randomised trials are not feasible, ethical or timely. The target trial approach provides a framework to help minimise common biases in observational studies that aim to estimate the causal effect of interventions. Incomplete reporting of studies using the target trial framework limits the ability for clinicians, researchers, patients and other decision-makers to appraise, synthesise and interpret findings to inform clinical and public health practice and policy. This paper describes the methods that we will use to develop the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) reporting guideline. Methods/design The TARGET reporting guideline will be developed in five stages following recommended guidance. The first stage will identify target trial reporting practices by systematically reviewing published studies that explicitly emulated a target trial. The second stage will identify and refine items to be considered for inclusion in the TARGET guideline by consulting content experts using sequential online surveys. The third stage will prioritise and consolidate key items to be included in the TARGET guideline at an in-person consensus meeting of TARGET investigators. The fourth stage will produce and pilot-test both the TARGET guideline and explanation and elaboration document with relevant stakeholders. The fifth stage will disseminate the TARGET guideline and resources via journals, conferences and courses. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for the survey has been attained (HC220536). The TARGET guideline will be disseminated widely in partnership with stakeholders to maximise adoption and improve reporting of these studies.",

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Hansford, HJ, Cashin, AG, Jones, MD, Swanson, SA, Islam, N, Dahabreh, IJ, Dickerman, BA, Egger, M, Garcia-Albeniz, X, Golub, RM, Lodi, S, Moreno-Betancur, M, Pearson, SA, Schneeweiss, S, Sterne, J, Sharp, MK, Stuart, EA, Hernan, MA, Lee, H & McAuley, JH 2023, 'Development of the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) guideline', BMJ open, vol. 13, no. 9, e074626. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074626

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AU - Hansford, Harrison J.

AU - Cashin, Aidan G.

AU - Jones, Matthew D.

AU - Swanson, Sonja A.

AU - Islam, Nazrul

AU - Dahabreh, Issa J.

AU - Dickerman, Barbra A.

AU - Egger, Matthias

AU - Garcia-Albeniz, Xavier

AU - Golub, Robert M.

AU - Lodi, Sara

AU - Moreno-Betancur, Margarita

AU - Pearson, Sallie Anne

AU - Schneeweiss, Sebastian

AU - Sterne, Jonathan

AU - Sharp, Melissa K.

AU - Stuart, Elizabeth A.

AU - Hernan, Miguel A.

AU - Lee, Hopin

AU - McAuley, James H.

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Development of the TrAnsparent ReportinG of observational studies Emulating a Target trial (TARGET) guideline

Abstract

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