Table 4. Compliance with the 12 methodologic criteria in seven case-control studies.

First Author	Baker JA	Møller H	Doria-Rose VP	Swerdlow AJ	Forman D PM	Haughey BP	Brown LM
Year (Ref. No.)	2005 (9)	1999 (10)	2005 (11)	1989 (12)	1994 (18)	1989 (19)	1987 (20)
Predetermined method	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Specification of the agent	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Unbiased data collection	±	−	±	+	±	±	△
Anamnestic eauivalence	+	△	±	+	±	±	±
Avoidance of constrained cases	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Avoidance of constrained controls	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Equal diagnostic examination	△	△	△	+	△	△	+
Equal diagnostic surveillance	△	△	△	△	△	△	△
Equal demographic susceptibility	+	+	+	±	+	+	+
Equal clinical susceptibility	△	+	+	+	+	+	△
Avoidance of protopathic bias	△	△	△	△	△	△	△
Community control for Berkson's bias	+	+	+	−	−	+	−

+, positive; −, negative; ±, uncertain; △, not applicable or not evaluable.