The quality of research in hospital epidemiology (infection control) must be improved to be robust enough to influence policy and practice.

In order to raise the standards of research and publication, a CONSORT equivalent for these largely quasi-experimental studies has been prepared by the authors of two relevant systematic reviews undertaken for the HTA and the Cocnrane Collaboration. The statement was revised following widespread consultation with learned societies, editors of journals and researchers. It consists of a 22 item checklist, and a summary table. The emphasis is on transparency to improve the quality of reporting and on the use of appropriate statistical techniques.

The statement has been endorsed and welcomed by a number of professional special interest groups and societies including the Association of Medical Microbiologists (AMM), Bristish Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) and the Infection Control Nurses' Association (ICNA) Research and Development Group. Like CONSORT, ORION considers itself a work in progress, which requires ongoing dialogue for successful promotion and dissemination. The statement is therefore offered for further public discussion and journals are encouraged to trial it as part of their reviewing and editing process and feedback to the authors.

ORION WORKSHOP IFIC Meeting Budapest 2007

At the 8th Congress of the International Federation of Infection Control in Budapest in October 2007, a highly successful ORION workshop was given, with the intention of showing the 40 or so participants how to design and assess intervention studies to improve infection control and prescribing interventions. This page features the powerpoint presentation introducing ORION, two specimen papers that the particpants reviewed, and the reviewers’ ORION checklist that they used. The correct answers are given at the end of the ppt.presentation.

Click here for the powerpoint presentation

Click here and here for the two specimen papers that the particpants reviewed.

The link to the ORION statement is above. Also see the Authors (or Reviewers) Checklist

Stone SP, Cooper BS, Kibbler CC, Cookson BD, Roberts JA, Medley GF et al
The ORION STATEMENT Guidelines for Transparent Reporting of Outbreak
Reports and Intervention studies Of Nosocomial infection Lancet Infect Dis 2007; 7: 282–88

Lancet Infectious Diseases website

Stone SP, Cooper BS, Kibbler CC, Cookson BD, Roberts JA, Medley GF et al
The ORION STATEMENT Guidelines for Transparent Reporting of Outbreak
Reports and Intervention studies Of Nosocomial infection. J Antimicrobial Chemother 2007; 59(5):833-40

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy website

ORION exemplar paper

Fowler S, Webber A, Cooper BS, Phimister A, Price K, Carter Y, Kibbler CC, Simpson AJH, Stone SP. Successful use of feedback to improve antibiotic prescribing and reduce Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI): A controlled Interrupted Times Series (ITS). J Antimicrobial Chemother 2007 59 (5): 990-995