STROBE

 1. Title and Abstract

   - Indicate the study's design with a commonly used term in the title or the abstract.

   - Provide a structured summary of study design, methods, results, and conclusions.

2. Introduction

   - Explain the scientific background and rationale for the investigation.

   - State specific objectives, including any pre-specified hypotheses.

3. Methods

   - Present key elements of study design early in the paper.

   - Describe the setting, locations, and relevant dates, including periods of recruitment, exposure, follow-up, and data collection.

   - Clearly define eligibility criteria, and the sources and methods of selection of participants.

   - Clearly define the outcomes, any exposures, predictors, potential confounders, and effect modifiers. Give diagnostic criteria, if applicable.

   - Describe the methods of assessment for each variable or a reference if it's a standard method.

   - Describe any efforts to address potential sources of bias.

   - Explain how quantitative variables were handled in the analyses.

   - Describe all statistical methods, including those used to control for confounding.

   - Describe any sensitivity analyses.

4. Results

   - Report the numbers of individuals at each stage of the study.

   - Give reasons for non-participation at each stage.

   - Consider use of a flow diagram.

   - Provide a descriptive analysis of the data.

   - Report outcome data and a summary of the main findings.

   - Give estimates of the random variability for important outcomes.

   - Report all important adverse events or side effects.

5. Discussion

   - Summarize key results with reference to study objectives.

   - Discuss limitations of the study, taking into account sources of potential bias or imprecision.

   - Discuss the generalizability (external validity) of the study results.

6. Other Information

   - If relevant, describe funding sources and the role of funders for the present study.

   - Indicate if there were any pre-specified analyses.