Introduction

3a Background and Objectives

Description

Explain the medical context (including whether diagnostic or prognostic) and rationale for developing or validating the multivariable prediction model, including references to existing models. This includes an explanation the rationale behind the intended use, the choice of patients, and the definition of outcome.

  • Helps to specify the particular use, purpose, and rationale of the prediction model, conditional on the medical context of the study.

  • Mitigates risk of discriminatory harm that could arise as a result of misapplication of the model in an inappropriate clincial context (e.g. group of patients to whom the results of the study do not generalise)

  • Enhances interpretability of the model by providing explanatorily important contextual features about the potential clinical uses of the model (e.g. to inform patients diagnosed with a certain disease about the risk of a negative outcome); Enables greater transparency by providing the rationale behind outcome definition.

../_images/p-c.png

3b Background and Objectives

Description

Specify the objectives, including whether the study describes the development or validation of the model or both.

  • Clearly identifying the specific aims of research questions enables readers to critically appraise the study’s objectives.

  • Increases longer term sustainability of research by supporting the understanding and critical engagement of the wider scientific community and practices

../_images/p-c.png