Dr. Ebenezer Owusu-Addo, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Rural Development and Innovation Studies (IRDIS), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, has joined a team of researchers worldwide to release the Equity Extension to STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE).

The guideline is intended to set clear expectations for reporting health equity-related factors in research, helping studies better represent diverse populations and expose inequities that matter for policy and healthcare delivery.

The original STROBE Statement, published in 2007, is considered the gold standard for reporting observational research. It has been cited more than 60,000 times and is widely seen as a cornerstone for transparent reporting.

The new Equity Extension, published in The BMJ and JAMA Network Open, addresses a critical gap in the initial guidelines.

“As observational designs are increasingly being used to measure the effectiveness of interventions in ‘real world’ scenarios, the Equity Extension to the STROBE Guideline is timely and relevant for promoting equity-focused evaluation in health services and healthcare,” Dr. Owusu-Addo said.

He added: “Upholding health as a fundamental human right requires governments across the globe to systematically identify and eliminate inequities in health. This can only be achieved when countries have data on inequities in health. The Equity Extension to the STROBE Guideline would contribute to generating the data required for monitoring health equity, making it an important milestone in operationalising the WHO operational framework for monitoring social determinants of health equity, which was published in 2024.”

"Observational studies make up more than 90% of all published health research. They play a central role in shaping our understanding of long-term safety, healthcare practices, and population health trends. These studies often collect information about equity-related factors such as race, gender, income, or geography, yet too often, this information is reported incompletely, inconsistently, or not at all. Lack of reporting often leads to inequities remaining hidden, and the evidence base used to guide health decisions continues to exclude experiences that matter,” Dr. Owusu-Addo said.

He concluded: “In achieving healthcare that truly works for all, research must represent everyone, and the Equity Extension to STROBE is a critical step in making sure future health research is inclusive.”

The Equity Extension introduces 10 new or adapted items on reporting health equity-related methods, data, and considerations, including recruitment and reporting on lived experience. The checklist is expected to help researchers make health research more inclusive, transparent, and actionable.

The guideline, Improving the reporting on health equity in observational research (STROBE-Equity): extension checklist and elaboration, is available in The BMJ and JAMA Network Open: https://www.bmj.com/content/390/bmj-2024-083882.