Reporting quality of Master of Medicine (MMed) mini-dissertations using the STROBE checklist
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background. The 2011 Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) directive to make a research component compulsory for specialist registration has been decried in some circles as encouraging low-quality research.
Objective. To assess the reporting quality of South African (SA) MMed mini-dissertations using the STROBE checklist.
Methods. A total of 100 monograph-format mini-dissertations reporting retrospective observational research were extracted from a pool of 335 mini- dissertations. Analysis of each was undertaken using a 24-point STROBE Statement checklist. Scoring was as follows: 1 = the item was compliant with STROBE recommendations; 0.5 = partially described; and 0 = not addressed at all. Satisfactory compliance was set at 66%, thus a STROBE score of 17-24 was considered satisfactory. Data were entered into an Excel spread sheet and analysed descriptively.
Results. STROBE item compliance for individual mini-dissertations was at a mean of 83.1%; range 50-97%; median 85% and mode 89%. Sixteen mini- dissertations were non-compliant, scoring below 17 as per the set threshold of 66%. This indicates an 84% satisfactory sample. Only Item 5 (Key settings and locations) was at 100% compliance. The four lowest scores were for STROBE items (9) Bias (29.5%); (10) Study size/power analysis (52%); (1) Title (69%) and (14) Missing data (69%).
Conclusion. The majority of sampled mini-dissertations, evaluated as per STROBE recommendations, are transparently reported to allow the reader to follow what was planned, done, found and which conclusions were drawn. As such the results confer a measure of reporting quality on the SA MMed research endeavour. The use of dissertation templates, commonly using STROBE-type headings and prompts, might have contributed to the good scores obtained. Importantly, areas of weakness in the writing of the SA MMed mini-dissertations have been highlighted and show which items require attention.
Downloads
Article Details
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The AJHPE is published under an Attribution-Non Commercial International Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License. Under this license, authors agree to make articles available to users, without permission or fees, for any lawful, non-commercial purpose. Users may read, copy, or re-use published content as long as the author and original place of publication are properly cited.
Exceptions to this license model is allowed for UKRI and research funded by organisations requiring that research be published open-access without embargo, under a CC-BY licence. As per the journals archiving policy, authors are permitted to self-archive the author-accepted manuscript (AAM) in a repository.
How to Cite
References
Mouton J, Basson I, Blanckenberg J, et al. The state of the South African research enterprise. DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy. Stellenbosch University. 2019. http://www0.sun.ac.za/crest/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/state-of-the-South-African-research-enterprise.pdf
Grossman ES, Naidoo S. Academic-service partnerships, research and the dental academic. J Dent Educ 2012;76(9):1226-1233. http://repository.uwc.ac.za/xmlui/handle/10566/1205
Grossman ES, Cleaton-Jones PE. Pipelines or pipe dreams? PhD production in a South African dental research institute 1954-2006. PiE 2011;29(3):111-125. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/pie/article/view/76980
Grossman ES. Publication rate of 309 Master of Medicine dissertations submitted between 1996-2017: Can our registrars fulfil HPCSA Form 57 MED amendments? S Afr Med J 2020;110(4):302-307. https://doi.org/10.7196/ SAMJ.2020.v110i4.14339
Szabo CP, Ramlall S. Research competency and specialist registration: Quo vadis? S Afr Med J 2016;106(12):1183- 1185. https://doi.org/10.7196/samj.2016.v106i12.11217
Aldous CM, Adhikari M, Rout CC. The research component of specialist registration – a question of alligators and swamps? A personal view. S Afr Med J 2015;105(1):21-22. https://doi.org.10.7196/SAMJ.8732
Heyns T, Bresser P, Buys T, et al. Twelve tips for supervisors to move towards person centered research supervision in health care sciences, Med Teach 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2018.1533241
Kisansa ME, Lubinga MH. Strategic and focused solutions to challenges faced by medical postgraduate students in performing research at a South African university. S Afr J High Educ 2020;34(2):59-73. https://doi. org/10.20853/34-2-3666
Biccard BM, Dyer RA, Swanevelder JL, et al. Is the HPCSA requirement for a research mini-dissertation for specialist registration the best option? South African J Anaesth Analg 2017;23(4):4-6.
Rodseth RN, Wise R, Bishop D. Polluting the well. South African J Anaesth Analg 2017;23(6):5.
Chassagnon G, Dangouloff-Ros V, Vilgrain V, et al. Academic productivity of French radiology residents: Where
do we stand? Diagn Interv Imaging 2016;97(2):211-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diii.2015.08.001
Nour-Eldien H, Mansour NM, Abdulmajeed AA. Master’s and doctoral theses in family medicine and their publication output, Suez Canal University, Egypt. J Family Med Prim Care 2015;4(2):162-167. https://doi.
org/10.4103/2249-4863.154622
Arriola-Quiroz I, Curioso WH, Cruz-Encarnacion M, et al. Characteristics and publication patterns of theses from a Peruvian medical school. Health Info Libr J 2010;27(2):148-154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471- 1842.2010.00878.x
Koca K, Ekinci S, Akpancar S, et al. An analysis of orthopaedic theses in Turkey: Evidence levels and publication rates. Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc 2016;50(5):562-566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aott.2016.03.001
Young SN. Bias in the research literature and conflict of interest: An issue for publishers, editors, reviewers and authors, and it is not just about the money. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2009;34(6):412-417.
Fathelrahman AI. Rejection of Good Manuscripts: Possible Reasons, Consequences and Solutions. J Clinic Res Bioeth 2015;6(1):204. https://doi.org/10.4172/2155-9627.1000204
International Science Council. Advisory Note on Bias in Science Publishing. https://council.science/publications/ advisory-note-on-bias-in-science-publishing/ (accessed 17 October 2022).
EQUATOR Network. UK Equator Centre, Centre for Statistics in Medicine, University of Oxford. http://equator- network.org (accessed 17 October 2022).
STROBE Statement. http://www.strobe-statement.org/ (accessed 17 October 2022).
von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, et al. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Statement: Guidelines for reporting observational studies. PLoS Med 2007;4(10):1623-
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0040296
Bhawalkar JS, Jadhav SL, Banerjee A, et al. Research trends in post-graduate medical students, Pune. Ann Med
Health Sci Res 2014;4(3):355-360. https://doi.org/10.4103/2141-9248.133459.
Dai Shuangyang, Xiaobin Zhou, Hong Xu, et al. Evaluation of the reporting quality of observational studies in
master of public health dissertations in China. BMC Med Res Methodol 2020;20:230. https://doi.org/10.1186/
s12874-020-01116-6
Shirahatti RV, Hegde-Shetiya S. Review of research designs and statistical methods employed in dental postgraduate dissertations. Indian J Dent Res 2015;26(4):427-434.
Grossman ES. How long does it take a registrar to complete the compulsory research project enabling specialist registration? S Afr Med J 2019;109(4):254-258. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.2019.v109i4.13377
Grossman ES. Content analysis of the South African MMed mini-dissertation. Afr J Health Prof Educ 2020b: 12(2);56-61. https://doi.org/10.7196/AJHPE.2020.v12i2.1227
von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, et al. STROBE Statement Checklist. https://www.strobe-statement.org/ fileadmin/Strobe/uploads/checklists/STROBE_checklist_v4_combined.pdf (accessed 17 October 2022).
Vandenbroucke JP, von Elm E, Altman DG, et al. Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE): Explanation and Elaboration. PLoS Med 2007;4(10):1628-1654. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0040297
Singh S. An intervention to assist students with writing their dissertations and theses. S Afr J High Educ 2011;25(5):1020-1030. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajhe/article/view/80701
Steyn R. Ethical dilemmas associated with hyper-structured student research projects. S Afr J High Educ 2020;34(1):231-248. https://doi.org/10.20853/34-1-3095
Boehe DM. Supervisory styles: a contingency framework. Stud High Educ 2016;41(3):399-414. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/03075079.2014.927853
Ahmed Y, Kanyengo CW, Akakandelwa A. Mapping postgraduate research at the University of Zambia: a review of dissertations for the Master of Medicine programme. Med J Zambia 2010;37(2):52-57. https://www.ajol.info/ index.php/mjz/article/view/75655