Table 2.
Descriptive characteristics of nine publications included in the meta-analyses (MA).
| Variable | Categories | Number of publications |
|---|---|---|
| Study design | Observational study | 7 |
| Controlled trial | 2 | |
| Publication type | Peer-reviewed | 8 |
| Conference proceedings | 1 | |
| Indicator temperament | Reactivity in scores in the milking parlor | 5 |
| Steps or kicks | 1 | |
| FSK (or MOV)1 | 1 | |
| Entrance time (in s) | 1 | |
| Crush score | 2 | |
| Flight speed (in m/s) | 3 | |
| Flight distance (in m) | 1 | |
| Novel object test | 1 | |
| Other | 2 | |
| Treatment (type of temperament) | Low | 9 |
| Intermediate | 9 | |
| High | 9 | |
| Year of publication | 2009-2014 | 5 |
| 2014-2020 | 4 | |
| Breed | Not reported | 0 |
| European | 2 | |
| Zebu/ Zebu-crosses | 7 | |
| Calving order | Primiparous | 3 |
| Multiparous | 4 | |
| Primiparous and multiparous | 1 | |
| Lactation stage | Not reported | 3 |
| Beginning of lactation | 2 | |
| Throughout lactation | 4 | |
| Housing system | Not reported | 3 |
| Free-stall or tie stall | 3 | |
| Loose housing/ open yard | 1 | |
| Pastures/ paddock | 2 | |
| Milking system | Not reported | 6 |
| Herringbone-milking parlor | 2 | |
| Parallel-milking parlor | 0 | |
| Tandem_milking parlor | 0 | |
| Rotary (Carousel) parlor | 1 | |
| Robotic milking parlor | 0 | |
| Who performed the procedure | Not reported | 5 |
| Unfamiliar person, technician, or researcher (authors) | 4 | |
| Familiar person or milker | 0 | |
| Other | ||
| Outcome assessed | Daily milk yield | 8 |
| Total milk yield | 3 | |
| Continent | South America | 2 |
| Oceania | 2 | |
| Europe | 5 | |
| Sample size | N < 100 | 3 |
| n ≥ 100 and n < 1000 | 3 | |
| n ≥1000 | 3 |
1FSK or MOV: Score based on the performance of flinching, stepping, and kicking or sum of the number of kicks and steps during milking.