Figure 3.

Stepwise scoring and grading procedure applied to assess the strength of evidence for candidate predictors of HRQoL of CRC survivors. In step 2, previously published linking rules for the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) [24] were used to group factors that were conceptually alike by linking them to the corresponding ICF category. As an example, the factors psychological distress, anxiety, and depression correspond to the same ICF category: b152 Emotional functions. Articles observing similar associations of these factors with HRQoL were therefore grouped, and quality scores from step 1 for these articles could thus be summed to assess the consistency of evidence for associations of these particular factors with HRQoL.

Abbreviations: CRC, colorectal cancer; HRQoL, health-related quality of life.