Table 2:

Number of articles that fulfill each item of the STROBE Statement

Section	Subsection	Code	item	Fulfill each STROBEitem n%
		1a	Indicate the study’s design with a commonly used term in the title or the abstract	14 (82)
Title and abstract	Title and abstract	1b	Provide in the abstract an informative and balanced summary of what was found	16(94)
	Background/rationale	2	Explain the scientific background and rationale for the investigation being reported	17 (100)
Introduction	Objectives	3	State-specific objectives, including any prespecified hypotheses	17 (100)
	Study design	4	Present key elements of study design early in the paper	13(76)
	Setting	5	Describe the setting, locations, and relevant dates, including periods of recruitment, exposure, follow-up, and data collection.	17 (100)
	Participants	6	Cross-sectional study: give the eligibility criteria and the sources and methods of selection of participants.	15(85)
	Variables	7	Clearly define all outcomes, exposures, predictors, potential confounders, and effect modifiers. Give diagnostic criteria, if applicable.	15(88)
Methods	Data sources/ measurement	8	For each variable of interest, give sources of data and details of methods of assessment (measurement). Describe comparability of assessment methods if there is more than one group.	16(94)
	Bias	9	Describe any efforts to address potential sources of bias.	1(6)
	Study size	10	Explain how the study size was arrived at	13(76)
	Quantitative variables	11	Explain how quantitative variables were handled in the analyses. If applicable, describe which groupings were chosen and why.	11(56)
	Statistical methods	12a	Describe all statistical methods, including those used to control for confounding.	10(60)
		12b	Describe any methods used to examine subgroups and interactions.	1(6)
		12c	Explain how missing data was addressed.	0(0)
		12d	Cross-sectional study: If applicable, describe analytical methods taking account of sampling strategy	NA
		12e	Describe any sensitivity analyses.	1(6)
	Participants	13a	Report numbers of individuals at each stage of study—e.g. numbers potentially eligible, examined for eligibility, confirmed eligible, included in the study, completing follow-up, and analyzed	16(94)
		13b	Give reasons for non-participation at each stage.	NA
Results		13c	Consider use of a flow diagram.	0(0)
	Descriptive data	14a	Give characteristics of study participants (e.g. Demographic, clinical, social) and information on exposures and potential confounders.	15(85)
		14b	Indicate a number of participants with missing data for each variable of interest.	0(0)
	Outcome data	15	Cross-sectional study: report numbers of outcome events or summary measures.	17(100)
	Main results	16a	Give unadjusted estimates and, if applicable, confounder-adjusted estimates and their precision (e.g. 95% confidence interval). Make clear which confounders were adjusted for and why they were included.	16(94)
		16b	Report category boundaries when continuous variables were categorized.	NA
		16c	If relevant, consider translating estimates of relative risk into absolute risk for a meaningful period.	NA
	Other Analyses	17	Report other analyses were done – e.g. Analyses of subgroups and interactions, and sensitivity analyses.	15(85)
	Key results	18	Summarize key results with reference to study objectives.	17 (100)
Discussion	Limitations	19	Discuss limitations of the study, taking into account sources of potential bias or imprecision. Discuss both direction and magnitude of any potential bias.	9(53)
	Interpretation	20	Give a cautious overall interpretation of results considering objectives, limitations, multiplicity of analyses, results from similar studies, and other relevant evidence.	15(85)
	Generalizability	21	Discuss the generalizability (external validity) of the study results.	8(46)
Other information	Funding	22	Give the sources of funding and the role of the funders for the present study and, if applicable, for the original study on which present article is based.	7(41)