Reporting guidelines for music-based interventions checklist: Explanation and elaboration guide

Abstract

Background: Detailed intervention reporting is essential to interpretation, replication, and eventual translation ofmusic-based interventions (MBIs) into practice. Despite availability of Reporting Guidelines for Music-based

Interventions (RG-MBI, published 2011), multiple reviews reveal sustained problems with reporting quality and

consistency. To address this, we convened an interdisciplinary expert panel to update and improve the utility and

validity of the existing guidelines using a rigorous Delphi approach. The resulting updated checklist includes 12-items

across eight areas considered essential to ensure transparent reporting of MBIs.

Methods: The purpose of this explanation and elaboration document is to facilitate consistent understanding, use, and

dissemination of the revised RG-MBI. Members of the interdisciplinary expert panel collaborated to create the resulting

guidance statement.

Results: This guidance statement offers: (1) the scope and intended use of the RG-MBI, (2) an explanation for each

checklist item, with examples from published studies, and (3) two published studies with annotations indicating where

the authors reported each checklist item.

Conclusion: Broader uptake of the RG-MBIs by study authors, editors, and peer reviewers will lead to better reporting

of MBI trials, and in turn facilitate greater replication of research, improve cross-study comparisons and meta-analyses,

and increase implementation of findings.