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. 2015 Dec 14;26:286–318. doi: 10.1007/s10926-015-9614-1

Table 1.

Descriptive characteristics of included articles (n = 123)

Number (%)
Source of evidence
 Peer-review journal article 75 (61)
 Commentary/editorial/article summary 19 (15)
 Conference proceeding 9 (7)
 Review 9 (7)
 Study protocol 6 (5)
 Thesis 5 (4)
Discipline of lead authors
 Health care 121 (98)
 Computing science 2 (2)
Geographic location of lead authors
 North America 70 (57)
 Europe 21 (17)
 Australasia 9 (7)
 Asia 4 (3)
 Multiple locations 19 (15)
Year of publication
 2006–2014 101 (82)
 2000–2005 18 (15)
 Before 2000 4 (3)
Type of tool discussed in the article
 Clinical prediction rule/classification system 79 (64)
 Questionnaire 15 (12)
 Treatment algorithm 15 (12)
 Theoretical/empirical model 6 (5)
 Computer-based tool 8 (7)
Condition aimed at by tool
 Low back pain 69 (56)
 Neck/shoulder/arm pain 21 (17)
 General MSK disorders 17 (14)
 Knee/ankle pain 6 (5)
 Upper extremity pain 3 (2)
 Serious pathology (fractures, etc.) 5 (4)
 Thoracolumbar injury 2 (2)
Reasoning method
 Rule-based 109 (89)
 Other (e.g., neural network, decision tree) 8 (7)
 Unclear 6 (5)
Study design of peer-review studies located (n = 75)
 Experimental
  Randomized controlled trial 12 (16)
  Quasi-experimental 4 (5)
 Observational
  Cohort study 31 (41)
  Case control/case report/case series 15 (20)
  Cross-sectional study 6 (8)
  Secondary analysis 5 (7)
  Methodological study 2 (3)