Table 2.
Quality assessment of the included studies according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale criteria for non-randomized studies
|
Ref.
|
Selection
|
Comparability
|
Outcome
|
Total stars
|
||||||
|
Representativeness
|
Selection of non-exposed
|
Ascertainment of exposure
|
Outcome not present at start
|
Comparability on most important factors
|
Comparability on other risk factors
|
Assessment of outcome
|
Long enough follow-up (median ≧ 24 mo)
|
Completeness of follow-up
|
|
|
| Xing et al[14] | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 6 |
| Semaan et al[15] | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 6 |
| Padillo-Ruiz et al[21] | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Court et al[16] | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Cheng et al[17] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 7 |
| White et al[18] | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 6 |
| Bissolati et al[19] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Hugenschmidt et al[20] | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
1
Meets the criteria of the scale. A maximum of one ‘star’ for each item within the ‘Selection’ and ‘Outcome’ categories; maximum of two ‘stars’ for ‘Comparability’; -Does not meet the criteria of the scale.