Risk of bias |
Interpretation |
Within a study |
Across studies |
Low risk of bias |
Plausible bias unlikely to seriously alter the results |
Low risk of bias for all key domains |
Most information is from studies at low risk of bias |
Unclear risk of bias |
Plausible bias that raises some doubt about the results |
Unclear risk of bias for one or more key domains |
Most information is from studies at low or unclear risk of bias |
High risk of bias |
Plausible bias that seriously weakens confidence in the results |
High risk of bias for one or more key domains |
The proportion of information from studies at high risk of bias is sufficient to affect the interpretation of results |