Table 5.

Overview of quality rating scoring per study

High (30–40 points)									Medium (20–29 points)			Low (<20 points)
Studies
		Kranzer[[27]]	Cooke[[32]]	Fatti[[29]]	Govindasamy[[26]]	Boyles[[30]]	Cleary[[25]]	Orrell,[[31]]	Cornell[[28]]	Tsai[[33]]	Adam[[34]]	Muula[[24]]	Nattrass[[23]]
Total score (out of 40 points)		37	34	34	33	32	31	30	26	26	26	19	12
1	Study design (peer reviewed = 2, other = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
2	Well-defined hypothesis/objective/research question? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	1
3	Clear motivation research question? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	1
4	Concept clearly defined (e.g. access, equity) (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	1	1	2	2	1	2	0	1	2	0	0
5	Methods well described? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	0
6	Main outcomes clearly described? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	1	2	2	1
7	Potential sources of bias taken into account? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	0	0	2	0	0
8	Population and sampling method clearly defined? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	0	0	0
9	Type of information used (i.e. sample size, time period) clearly described? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	1	1	1
10	Primary data used for key analyses? (yes = 2, no = 0)	2	0	2	2	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
11	Survey (household/provider level) data used? (yes = 2, partial = 1, no = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	0	2	0	0
12	Research/subquestion(s) answered? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	1	2	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	1
13	Results based on evidence derived from the data analysis? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	0	0	1
14	Results credible given the methods, data, and analysis used? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	2	0	1
15	Robustness of findings and limitations of method discussed? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	1	2	1	2	0
16	Findings discuss within context of existing evidence base? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1
17	Missings clearly described? (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	2	1	0	2	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
18	Generalizable to rest of the country? (given sample size) (fully = 2, partial = 1, not at all = 0)	2	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	2	2
19	Study subjects asked representative of entire population recruited from? (yes = 2, no = 0)	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
20	Study subjects prepared to participate representative of entire population recruited from? (yes = 2, partial = 1, no = 0)	2	2	0	2	1	2	0	0	2	0	0	0