Trend over time; A structural review of articles published in Journal of Pakistan Medical Association from 1953-2009

Objective: To review the articles published in the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association from 1953 to 2009 and to assess the components of each article by a pretested proforma containing a checklist of items based on modified Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement.Methods: The retrospective study was conducted at the office of the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association, Karachi, from February to November 2010. A checklist of items in the modified Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement was made after discussion among the authors of the study to finally include a revised checklist of 45 items instead of the checklist of 22 items of the statement. A total sample size of 370 was calculated. Simple randomisation was done for selection of articles from each year. For each article, major and minor items were documented. Data was fed into SPSS version 15.Results: The scientific quality of reporting of most of the components of Introduction, Results and Discussion sections have improved progressively with time (p 0.001) whereas most components of Methodology have remained consistent.Conclusion: A change in trend over time was observed over the study period in major and minor items of the articles in the Journal, showing improved reporting of various sub-components of articles. The modified Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement provides a checklist that may be used to improve the quality of articles.