The association between smoking, obesity, risky alcohol intake, and physical inactivity and the prevalence of ventral hernia recurrence: a register- and survey-based nationwide study

This Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) outlines the statistical methodologies and data-related specifics for a planned register-based observational cross-sectional study, which is enhanced with data from a nationwide survey. The study's objective is to investigate the relationship between the common risky lifestyle factors smoking, body mass index (BMI), alcohol con-sumption, and physical inactivity—and the recurrence of ventral hernias. The dataset compris-es a nationwide Danish cohort of patients who underwent primary or incisional ventral hernia repair from January 2014 to March 2024. The study hypothesizes that recurrence after ventral hernia repair is more prevalent among patients with risky lifestyle factors. Furthermore, it pos-its that an increase in the number of risky lifestyle factors correlates with a higher prevalence of hernia recurrence.