Table 1.
Risk of bias of included studies according to the Cochrane Risk of Bias toola
| Author | Year | Randomization | Allocation concealment | Blinding of assessor and/or physician (for assessment of objective outcomes) | Blinding of participants (for assessment of subjective outcomes) | Intention to treat | Free of selective reporting | Source of funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | 2009 | Low risk | Low risk | High risk | High risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Carette | 1983 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | High risk | Low risk | High risk | Low risk |
| Steinberg | 1991 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Donadio | 1976 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | High risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk |
| Pohl | 1991 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | High risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Wang | 2007 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | High risk | High risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Isenberg; An analysis of ALMS study | 2010 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Appel (ALMS study) | 2009 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Austin | 1986 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Balletta | 1992 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk |
| Bao | 2008 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Barron | 1982 | High risk | High risk | Low risk | Low risk | High risk | High risk | Low risk |
| Boumpas | 1992 | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Cade | 1973 | High risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Chan | 2000 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Chen | 2011 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Clark | 1981 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Clark | 1984 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Contreras | 2002 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| CYCLOFA-LUNE Study | 2010 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Derksen | 1988 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Donadio | 1974 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | High risk | Low risk |
| Donadio | 1978 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Doria | 1994 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Dyadyk | 2001 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| El-Shafey | 2010 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Fu | 1998 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | High risk | Low risk |
| Ginzler | 2005 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Gourley | 1996 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Grootscholten (Dutch Lupus study) | 2006 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Hahn | 1975 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Hong | 2007 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Houssiau | 2002 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Lewis | 1992 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Li | 2009a | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Li | 2009b | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Lui | 1997 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| LUNAR Study | 2012 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| MAINTAIN Nephritis Study | 2010 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Mitwalli | 2011 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Mok | 2009 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Moroni | 2004 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Mulic-Basic | 2008 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| My-Lupus Study | 2010 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Ong | 2005 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Sabry | 2009 | High risk | High risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk |
| Sesso | 1994 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk |
| Steinberg | 1971 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Sundel/Sandel | 2008 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Wallace | 1998 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Yee | 2004 | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | High risk | Low risk |
| Li | 2012 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | High risk | High risk | Unclear risk | Low risk |
| Yap | 2012 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | High risk | High risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Stoenoiu | 2012 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Chen | 2012 | Low risk | Low risk | High risk | High risk | High risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk |
| Arends (long term FU of Dutch Lupus study) | 2012 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Sundel (report of induction and maintenance phases of ALMS study) | 2012 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| Walsh (post-hoc subgroup analysis of ALMS) | 2013 | Low risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk | Low risk | Unclear risk |
| PetrI | 2010 | Low risk | Unclear | High risk | High risk | Low risk | Unclear risk | Low risk |
| Zeher | 2011 | Low risk | Low risk | High risk | High risk | High risk | Unclear risk | High risk |
| Dooley | 2011 | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | Unclear risk | High risk | Unclear risk | High risk |
Radhakrishnan 2010 was a pooled analyses of two studies, and Mok 2001, Hu 2002, and Wang 2008 [33–36] were observational studies used in the Cochrane Review; therefore, risk of bias could not be assessed for these studies
aHiggins JP, Altman DG, Sterne JA. Chapter 8: Assessing risk of bias in included studies. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 (updated March 2011). The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011. Available from http://handbook.cochrane.org/. In: Higgins JP, Green S, eds 2011