Table. Evaluation of indirect comparisons and network meta-analyses in data examples.

Checklist item	Baker and Phung (4)	Alfivirec et al. (5)
1. Questions established in advance?
2. Rationale given for use of indirect comparisons?
3. Rationale given for choice of common comparators?	— *1
4. Search of literature complete?	() *2	()*5
5. Inclusion and exclusion criteria clearly described?
6. Complete report of all data?	()*3
7. Basic assumptions examined?	— *4	— *4
8. Suitable statistical procedures used?
9. Limitations described?

^*1It is unclear whether or not this is a selective choice.

^*2There is no list of excluded references.

^*3There is no representation of pooled estimates for pairwise comparison of dabigatran and warfarin.

^*4Homogeneity has not been sufficiently examined.

^*5The method used to search the secondary source is not clearly shown. It is therefore unclear whether the study pool up is up to date and complete.