Interpretation of the standardised reporting of burden of disease studies (STROBOD statement)

Clarifying the burden of disease is of great significance for determining the focus of healthcare and optimizing the allocation of medical resources. However, differences in research methods and assumptions often affect the comparability of different research results, thus leading to difficulties in healthcare decision-making. Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) is the most commonly used indicator to measure the burden of disease, but the reporting quality of disease burden studies using the DALY metric is uneven. To standardize the reporting of such studies, international scholars developed and recently published the STROBOD statement in Population Health Metrics. Its checklist includes seven parts: title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and open science, involving a total of 28 items. To assist domestic scholars in better understanding and applying this reporting standard, this article interprets each item with published examples, aiming to improve the overall quality of disease burden research and provide high-quality evidence for public health decision-making.