Table 3. Quality evaluation of the included studies.
| Criteria | [14] | [15] | [16] | [17] | [18] | [19] | [20] | [21] | [22] | [23] | [24] | [25] | [26] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question/objective sufficiently described? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Study design evident and appropriate? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Method of subject/comparison group selection or source of information/input variables described and appropriate? | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Subject (and comparison group, if applicable) characteristics sufficiently described? | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| If interventional and random allocation was possible, was it described? | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| If interventional and blinding of investigators was possible, was it reported? | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| If interventional and blinding of subjects was possible, was it reported? | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Criteria | [14] | [15] | [16] | [17] | [18] | [19] | [20] | [21] | [22] | [23] | [24] | [25] | [26] |
| Outcome and (if applicable) exposure measure(s) well defined and robust to measurement/misclassification bias? Means of assessment reported? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Sample size appropriate? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Analytic methods described/justified and appropriate? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Some estimate of variance is reported for the main results? | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Controlled for confounding? | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Results reported in sufficient detail? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Conclusions supported by the results? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum points | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| Total points | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 18 | 19 |
| Summary score (%) | 82 | 82 | 86 | 89 | 86 | 82 | 86 | 91 | 86 | 64 | 59 | 82 | 86 |
| Criteria | [27] | [28] | [29] | [30] | [31] | [32] | [33] | [34] | [35] | [36] | [37] | [38] | |
| Question/objective sufficiently described? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Study design evident and appropriate? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Method of subject/comparison group selection or source of information/input variables described and appropriate? | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Subject (and comparison group, if applicable) characteristics sufficiently described? | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| If interventional and random allocation was possible, was it described? | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| If interventional and blinding of investigators was possible, was it reported? | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| If interventional and blinding of subjects was possible, was it reported? | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Outcome and (if applicable) exposure measure(s) well defined and robust to measurement/misclassification bias? Means of assessment reported? | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Sample size appropriate? | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Analytic methods described/justified and appropriate? | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Criteria | [27] | [28] | [29] | [30] | [31] | [32] | [33] | [34] | [35] | [36] | [37] | [38] | |
| Some estimate of variance is reported for the main results? | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Controlled for confounding? | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 0 | 0 | |
| Results reported in sufficient detail? | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Conclusions supported by the results? | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Maximum points | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | |
| Total points | 19 | 17 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 17 | |
| Summary score (%) | 86 | 77 | 59 | 77 | 77 | 68 | 77 | 86 | 77 | 86 | 91 | 77 | |
| Criteria | [39] | [40] | [41] | ||||||||||
| Question/objective sufficiently described? | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Study design evident and appropriate? | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Method of subject/comparison group selection or source of information/input variables described and appropriate? | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Subject (and comparison group, if applicable) characteristics sufficiently described? | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||
| If interventional and random allocation was possible, was it described? | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||
| If interventional and blinding of investigators was possible, was it reported? | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||
| If interventional and blinding of subjects was possible, was it reported? | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||
| Outcome and (if applicable) exposure measure(s) well defined and robust to measurement/misclassification bias? Means of assessment reported? | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Sample size appropriate? | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Analytic methods described/justified and appropriate? | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Some estimate of variance is reported for the main results? | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Controlled for confounding? | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Results reported in sufficient detail? | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Conclusions supported by the results? | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Maximum points | 22 | 22 | 22 | ||||||||||
| Total points | 17 | 19 | 13 | ||||||||||
| Summary score (%) | 77 | 86 | 59 | ||||||||||
0 if the response is ‘no’; 1 if the response is ‘partial’; 2 if the response is ‘yes’ followed by N/A if not applicable.