Table 4.

Risk of bias assessment

Ref.	Questions for evaluation														Score
Upadhyay et al[73]	Yes	Yes	Unsure	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	No	Yes	8
Peterson et al[62]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	No	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Ajemba et al[60]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Cheung et al[64]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	No	Yes	10
Danielsson et al[63]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	13
Kindsfater et al[46]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Lowe et al[47]	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	7
Sun et al[67]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Sun et al[66]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Hung et al[65]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	No	10
Lam et al[74]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	11
Lee et al[68]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unsure	No	No	Unsure	Yes	No	Yes	7
Tan et al[36]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	12
Modi et al[77]	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	No	No	Unsure	Yes	No	No	6
Qiu et al[69]	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	No	No	7
Xu et al[70]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	No	Yes	9
Ward et al[58]	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	No	No	Unsure	No	Yes	Yes	7
Bohl et al[59]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Unsure	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
Zhao et al[71]	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	No	No	Unsure	Yes	No	Yes	7
Zhou et al[72]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Moreau et al[44]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Unsure	No	No	Unsure	Yes	No	Yes	7
Akoume et al[16]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	No	Yes	9
Akoume et al[61]	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Unsure	Unsure	No	No	Unsure	Yes	No	No	2
Yamamoto et al[76]	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Unsure	Yes	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	No	6
Yeung et al[75]	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Unsure	No	No	Unsure	Yes	Yes	Yes	7

Questions for evaluation: (1) Were inclusion/exclusion criteria clearly described? (2) Were confounding factors identified, and taken into consideration as selection criteria? (3) Was study prospective? (4) Were number/rate of male and female enrolled into the study reported? (5) Were criteria of curve progression clearly identified? (6) Was measurement of curve progression clearly described? (7) Were enrolled patients analyzed in the same treatment group (bracing, observation, physiotherapy) to which they were allocated? (8) Was statistician blind to the status of subjects enrolled into the study? (9) Was follow-up period clearly identified? (10) Was drop out rate reported? (11) Was drop out rate acceptable? (< 25%); (12) Are reports of the study free of suggestion of selective outcome reporting? (13) Was impact of gender taken into consideration during analysis? and (14) Was impact of confounding factors taken into consideration during analysis?