Table 4.
Commonly used tools for assessing ROB.
| Tool | Full name/reference | Purpose/characteristics | Examples/usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| GRADE System[55] | Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation System | Provide a systematic approach for making clinical practice recommendations. The GRADE framework is not used to assess ROB within individual studies | Used by healthcare providers, guideline developers, and policymakers to make informed decisions about patient care based on the best available evidence. |
| RoB2[48] | Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool Version 2 | Assesses ROB in randomized trials. | Applied in systematic reviews to evaluate the quality of included studies. |
| AHRQ[56] | Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Methods Guide | Offers methodological guidance for evidence-based healthcare research. | Used in healthcare research to ensure rigorous methods in systematic reviews. |
| RRB[53] | RoBINS-I and RoBINS-E for umbrella reviews | Tools for assessing RoBINS-I and RoBINS-E. | Applied in umbrella reviews combining evidence from diverse study designs. |
| AMSTAR 2[54] | A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2 | Evaluates the methodological quality of systematic reviews. | Used to appraise systematic reviews across various healthcare topics. |
| Newcastle-Ottawa[49] | Newcastle-Ottawa Scale | Rates quality of nonrandomized studies in meta-analyses. | Commonly used in meta-analyses of observational studies. |
| QUADAS [57] | Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies | Assesses the quality of diagnostic accuracy studies. | Applied in systematic reviews evaluating diagnostic test accuracy. |
| JADAD[58] | Jadad Scale | Rates quality of RCTs. | Commonly used in clinical trials to assess methodological quality. |
| STROBE[59] | Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology | Provides guidelines for reporting observational studies. | Used by researchers to enhance transparency and quality of observational research reporting. |
| CONSORT[60] | Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials | Guidelines for reporting randomized controlled trials. | Widely used by journals and researchers to improve transparency in reporting RCTs. |
| ROBINS-I[53] | Risk of Bias In nonrandomized Studies of Interventions | Tool to assess risk of bias in nonrandomized intervention studies. | Used in systematic reviews where randomized trials are unavailable or impractical. |
| ROBINS-E[53] | Risk of Bias In nonrandomized Studies – of Exposures | Tool to assess risk of bias in nonrandomized studies of exposures. | Applied in systematic reviews focusing on nonrandomized exposure studies. |
Abbreviations: GRADE = grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluations, ROB = risk of bias, RoBINS-I = risk of bias in non-randomized studies-interventions, RoBINS-E = risk of bias in non-randomized studies-exposures RCTs = randomized controlled trials.