Evaluation of the Endorsement of the STrengthening the REporting of Genetic Association Studies (STREGA) statement on the reporting quality of published genetic association studies

The STrengthening the REporting of Genetic Association studies (STREGA) statement was based on the STrengthening the REporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement, and it was published in 2009 in order to improve the reporting of genetic association (GA) studies. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of STREGA endorsement on the quality of reporting of GA studies published in journals in the field of genetics and heredity (GH). Quality of reporting was evaluated by assessing the adherence of papers to the STREGA checklist. After identifying the GH journals that endorsed STREGA in their instructions for authors, we randomly appraised papers published in 2013 from journals endorsing STREGA that published GA studies (Group A); in GH journals that never endorsed STREGA (Group B); in GH journals endorsing STREGA, but in the year preceding its endorsement (Group C); and in the same time period as Group C from GH journals that never endorsed STREGA (Group D). The STREGA statement was referenced in 29 (18.1%) of 160 GH journals, of which 18 (62.1%) journals published GA studies. Among the 18 journals endorsing STREGA, we found a significant increase in the overall adherence to the STREGA checklist over time (A vs C; P < 0.0001). Adherence to the STREGA checklist was significantly higher in journals endorsing STREGA compared to those that did not endorse the statement (A vs B; P = 0.04). No significant improvement was detected in the adherence to STREGA items in journals not endorsing STREGA over time (B vs D; P > 0.05). The endorsement of STREGA resulted in an increase in quality of reporting of GA studies over time, while no similar improvement was reported for journals that never endorsed STREGA.