Table 3.
Randomized controlled trails of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in patients with type 2 diabetes not using insulin: methodological quality
| Criteria | Schwedes9,10 | Farmer11–13 | Allen16 | Davidson17 | Fontbone18 | Guerci19 | Muchmore20 | O’Kane21 | Barnett14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randomization adequate | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Treatment allocation concealed | + | − | − | + | |||||
| Groups similar at baseline | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Patient blinded | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Care provider blinded | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Outcome assessor blinded | +/?a | +/?a | |||||||
| Co-interventions avoided | − | + | + | + | + | + | + | ||
| Compliance acceptable | + | − | + | − | + | + | − | ||
| Withdrawal/drop-out rate acceptable | + | + | + | + | + | − | + | + | + |
| Timing of outcome assessment similar | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Intention to treat analyses | − | + | − | + | + | + | |||
| Total quality score | 5 | (7)8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | (6)7 | 6 |
| Overall quality conclusion | Low | High | High | High | Low | Low | Low | High | High |
a
Outcome assessor was only blinded for HbA1c.
Abbreviation: NA, not applicable.