Table 1.
Quality assessment screening using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
Randomised Controlled Trials | ||||||||
First Author,
Year |
Are the Research Questions Clear? | Do the Collected Data Address the Research Questions? | Is Randomisation Appropriately Performed? | Are the Groups Comparable at Baseline? | Are There Complete Outcome Data? | Are Outcome Assessors Blinded to the Intervention Provided? | Did the Participants Adhere to the Assigned Intervention? | Comments |
Eiroa-Orosa, 2010 [23] |
Yes | Yes | Cannot tell | Yes | Can’t tell | Can’t tell | Yes | Does not describe how the randomisation schedule was generated. |
Quantitative non-randomised | ||||||||
First author,
Year |
Are the Research Questions Clear? | Do the Collected Data Allow the Research Questions? | Are the Participants Representative of the Target Population? | Are Measurements Appropriate Regarding Both the Outcome and Intervention (or Exposure)? | Are There Complete Outcome Data? | Are the Confounders Accounted for in the Design and Analysis? | During the Study Period, Was the Intervention Administered (or Exposure Occurred) as Intended? | Comments |
Abrahamsson, 2017 [18] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cannot tell—see comment | Yes | Individuals were excluded if they had a prescription for pain, but 22% of the sample were prescribed pregabalin. |
Durand, 2021 [21] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cannot tell—see comment | Yes | Possible selection bias, as they excluded all in continuous MMT prior to study start date. |
Eibl, 2019 [22] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cannot tell | Yes | |
MacLeod, 2019 [24] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cannot tell | Yes | |
Maremmani, 2014 [25] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes—per protocol | Cannot tell | Yes | Clinical setting, observational study, unable to follow up patients who dropped out. |
Park, 2020 [28] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | - |
Rapeli, 2009 [29] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Did not compare OAT vs. OAT and BZD. |
Schuman-Olivier, 2013 [30] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
Sharma, 2020 [31] |
Yes | Yes | Cannot tell | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | A broader population, not just OAT patients. |
Weizman, 2003 [32] |
Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
Xu, 2021 [33] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Case–controlled. |
Quantitative descriptive | ||||||||
First author,
Year |
Are the Research Questions Clear? | Do the Collected Data Allow the Research Questions? | Is the Sampling Strategy Relevant to Address the Research Question? | Is the Sample Representative of the Target Population? | Are the Measurements Appropriate? | Is the Risk of Nonresponse Bias Low? | Is the Statistical Analysis Appropriate to Answer the Research Question? | Comments |
Bakker and Streel, 2017 [19] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cannot tell (as it is a practice population) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Studied all OAT patients in one practice, not representative of wider population. Inferential tests limited to retention analysis (t-tests). |
Best, 2002 [20] |
Cannot tell | Cannot tell | Cannot tell | Cannot tell | Yes | No | Cannot tell (see comment) | Attrition bias possible (24%). Does not explicitly state which analyses were used.12 3. |
Mijatović, 2013 [26] |
Yes | Cannot tell | Cannot tell | Cannot tell | Cannot tell | Yes | Yes | Does not mention sampling method. Patients in one Serbian drug treatment centre; excluded patients with severe physical disease, mental disorders and polysubstance dependence. Unclear how side-effects (besides QTc) were measured. |
Mijatović, 2017 [27] |
Yes | Yes | Cannot tell | Cannot tell | Yes | No | Yes | 30 patients enrolled in study; 17 patients present six months after starting MMT. |