Reporting guidelines for Case Reports In Mental health and Psychiatry (CRIMP)

Abstract

Background: Specialty-focused reporting guidelines can help cater to the nuances of manuscripts pertaining to a medical field. Aim: The present work describes the development of reporting guidelines for case reports and case series in mental health and psychiatry. Methods: A set of mental health and psychiatry experts followed a step-wise process of examining the existing reporting guidelines for case reports, generating items for reporting guidelines specific to mental health and psychiatry, refinement, and developing consensus. Results: The Case Reports In Mental health and Psychiatry (CRIMP) reporting guidelines have 8 items, with two having sub-items. The CRIMP can be used for reporting a single case or case series of up to 10 cases, but is not applicable for case reports with detailed review of literature and long-format case studies. The items include: identification as case report/case series in the title, introduction mentioning the novelty or reasons for reporting, case demographics and setting, case description and assessment, case diagnosis, discussion of the key issue(s), pertinent references, and ethical aspects. Conclusion: The CRIMP reporting guidelines have potential utility for authors, reviewers, and editors in the field of mental health and psychiatry, while drafting or appraising case reports and case series.