Table 3.

Quality assessment of the different studies included in this systematic review performed using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale (NOS).

Author(s), Year	Study Design	Selection	Comparability	Outcome	Total Score	Quality Rating
Wuorela et al., 2020 [18]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Godaert et al., 2018 [11]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Godard-Sebillotte et al., 2016 [12]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Mavaddat et al., 2016 [19]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Brown et al., 2015 [20]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Gurland et al., 2014 [21]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Shen et al., 2014 [15]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Fernández-Ruiz et al., 2013 [22]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Puts et al., 2013 [2]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Ernstein et al., 2011 [23]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Khang et al., 2010 [24]	Longitudinal	***	**	**	7	High
Ford et al., 2008 [25]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Johansson et al., 2008 [26]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Okamoto et al., 2008 [27]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Lee et al., 2007 [28]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Van den Brink et al., 2005 [29]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Baron-Epel et al., 2004 [30]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Walker et al., 2004 [31]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Bath, 2003 [32]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	8	High
Helmer et al., 1999 [33]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Yu et al., 1998 [17]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Leung et al., 1997 [34]	Longitudinal	**	**	***	7	High
Schoenfeld et al., 1994 [35]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High
Tsuji et al., 1994 [16]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Pijls et al., 1993 [13]	Longitudinal	***	**	***	8	High
Rakowski et al., 1993 [14]	Longitudinal	****	**	***	9	High

NOS scores ≥7 were considered to indicate high-quality studies, and scores of 5–6 indicated moderate quality. The sum of the stars constitutes the Total score (for the first row: 4 stars for selection, two stars for Comparability, and three stars for outcome equal 9 stars (total score equals 9).