htlin222/care-check

CARE Compliance Checker

Audit case report manuscripts against the CARE (CAse REport) 13-item checklist.

Workflow

1. Read the full manuscript
2. Confirm the manuscript is a case report or small case series
3. Walk through each item below
4. For each item, assign: Reported / Partial / Missing / N/A
5. Quote the relevant manuscript text as evidence
6. Output a compliance summary + actionable fixes

CARE Checklist (13 Items)

| # | Topic | Section | Requirement | |---|-------|---------|-------------| | 1 | Title | Title | The diagnosis or intervention of primary focus followed by the words "case report" | | 2 | Key words | Title page | 2-5 key words identifying diagnoses or interventions, including "case report" | | 3a | Abstract — Introduction | Abstract | What is unique about this case and what does it add to the literature? | | 3b | Abstract — Findings | Abstract | Patient's main concerns and important clinical findings | | 3c | Abstract — Diagnoses/Interventions | Abstract | Main diagnoses, therapeutic interventions, and outcomes | | 3d | Abstract — Conclusion | Abstract | Main "take-away" lessons from this case | | 4 | Introduction | Introduction | Briefly summarise and cite similar previously published cases; state why this case is unique | | 5 | Patient information | Case presentation | De-identified demographics, main concerns/symptoms, medical/family/psychosocial history (diet, lifestyle, genetics when possible), relevant past interventions with outcomes | | 6 | Clinical findings | Case presentation | Relevant physical examination findings and significant clinical findings | | 7 | Timeline | Case presentation | Important dates and times as a figure, table, or narrative (historical and current episode) | | 8a | Diagnostic assessment — Methods | Case presentation | Diagnostic methods (PE, lab, imaging, questionnaires) | | 8b | Diagnostic assessment — Challenges | Case presentation | Diagnostic challenges (financial, language/cultural, etc.) | | 8c | Diagnostic assessment — Reasoning | Case presentation | Diagnostic reasoning including other diagnoses considered (differential diagnosis) | | 8d | Diagnostic assessment — Prognosis | Case presentation | Prognostic characteristics (e.g., staging) where applicable | | 9a | Therapeutic intervention — Types | Case presentation | Types of intervention (pharmacologic, surgical, preventive, self-care) | | 9b | Therapeutic intervention — Administration | Case presentation | Administration details (dosage, strength, duration) | | 9c | Therapeutic intervention — Changes | Case presentation | Changes in interventions with rationale | | 10a | Follow-up and outcomes — Assessment | Results | Clinician-assessed and patient-assessed outcomes | | 10b | Follow-up and outcomes — Tests | Results | Important follow-up test results (positive or negative) | | 10c | Follow-up and outcomes — Adherence | Results | Intervention adherence and tolerability (how assessed) | | 10d | Follow-up and outcomes — Adverse events | Results | Adverse and unanticipated events | | 11a | Discussion — Strengths/limitations | Discussion | Strengths and limitations in the management of this case | | 11b | Discussion — Literature | Discussion | Relevant medical literature with references | | 11c | Discussion — Rationale | Discussion | Rationale for conclusions (assessment of possible causes) | | 11d | Discussion — Take-away | Discussion | Primary "take-away" lessons (without overgeneralizing), in a single paragraph | | 12 | Patient perspective | Discussion | Patient shares their perspective or experience (when possible) | | 13 | Informed consent | Other | Patient provided informed consent |

Common CARE Gaps

| Frequently Missing | Fix | |--------------------|-----| | Item 1 ("case report" in title) | Append ": a case report" to the title | | Item 7 (Timeline) | Add a timeline figure or table showing key dates | | Item 8c (Differential diagnosis) | List diagnoses considered and reasoning for final diagnosis | | Item 10d (Adverse events) | State adverse events explicitly, even if none occurred | | Item 12 (Patient perspective) | Add a brief patient quote or note that consent for perspective was not obtained | | Item 13 (Informed consent) | Add a statement about informed consent for publication |

Tips for Case Reports

• Timeline figure: A visual timeline dramatically improves readability and is specifically requested by CARE
• "Case report" in title: Reviewers check this first; it's the easiest item to comply with
• Patient perspective: Even one sentence from the patient adds value; if not possible, explain why
• Differential diagnosis: Don't just state the final diagnosis; show your reasoning process
• Avoid overgeneralization: The Discussion should teach lessons from this case without claiming broad applicability

Output Format

CARE Compliance Report
Manuscript: [filename]

Summary: X/13 Reported | Y Partial | Z Missing | W N/A

MISSING ITEMS:
  [Item #] [Topic] — [What's needed]

PARTIAL ITEMS:
  [Item #] [Topic] — [What's present] → [What's missing]

FULLY REPORTED:
  [Item #] [Topic] ✓

Related Skills

• /manuscript — Overall manuscript writing and anti-pattern scanning