CARE Checklist

What CARE is

CARE is the reporting guideline for case reports. Its checklist, published in 2013, organises a case report into 13 topics, from the title through to the patient's own perspective and informed consent. Case reports are judged on whether the clinical information is complete enough to be useful, and CARE is the standard editors use to judge that. Many journals ask for the completed CARE checklist at submission.

When it applies

Use CARE for single case reports and small case series. Larger case series, where you analyse outcomes across patients, may be better reported against STROBE.

What the checklist covers

• Title: the words "case report" alongside the area of focus.
• Keywords that identify what the case is about.
• Abstract: what is unique, the main symptoms and findings, diagnoses, interventions, outcomes, and the main take-away lesson.
• Introduction: why the case matters, with reference to the relevant literature.
• Patient information: de-identified demographics, main concerns, and relevant history.
• Clinical findings from examination.
• Timeline: the key dates and events in the episode of care, often as a table or figure.
• Diagnostic assessment: tests, challenges in reaching the diagnosis, and differential diagnoses considered.
• Therapeutic intervention: what was done, how, and any changes.
• Follow-up and outcomes: clinician- and patient-assessed outcomes, adherence, and adverse events.
• Discussion: strengths and limitations, the relevant literature, the rationale for conclusions, and the main lesson.
• Patient perspective, where the patient is willing to share it.
• Informed consent to publication.

What authors most often miss

• The timeline, which editors increasingly treat as required rather than optional.
• A differential diagnosis, especially when the final diagnosis is unusual.
• Informed consent for publication, stated explicitly, particularly when images could identify the patient.
• Follow-up too short to support the conclusion drawn.
• A discussion that summarises the case again instead of explaining what it adds to the literature.

Ophthalmology: images and identification

Eye case reports rely heavily on clinical photographs, fundus images and OCT scans. External photographs of the eyes and face can identify a patient even when cropped, so make sure consent covers publication of those images and say so in the manuscript.