Table 2.

Revised study inclusion criteria.

Study	(1) RCT	(2) SCH definition	(3) Proved SCH	(4) Prospective	(5) Two outcomes	(6) 8 weeks treatment	(7) Adults	(8) Without previous disease	(9) Without previous medication
Cooper et al. (29)	●	●		●	●	●	●
Jaeschke et al. (21)	●	●		●	●	●	●
Meier et al. (22)	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●
Monzani et al. (15)	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Caraccio et al. (23)*	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Kong et al. (24)	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Christ-Crain et al. (33)	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●
Monzani et al. (30)*	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Christ-Crain et al. (35)	●	●		●	●	●	●	●
Iqbal et al. (25)	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●
Razvi et al. (30)	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Teixeira et al. (26)*	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Teixeira et al. (27)*	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Mikhail et al. (26)	●	●		●	●	●		●	●
Nagasaki et al. (32)*	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Martins et al. (32)	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Mean (total)	100% (16)	100% (16)	56% (9)	100% (16)	100% (16)	100% (16)	94% (15)	81% (13)	63% (10)

Studies with (●) met criteria. Criteria not declared in a study were considered not done. Studies with (*) were included in the meta-analysis.

Criteria: 1- Randomized placebo-controlled trials; 2- SCH defined as TSH ≥ 3.5 IU/L with FT4 and FT3 concentrations within the normal reference range; 3- proved stable elevated TSH levels for at least six weeks before beginning levothyroxine or placebo treatment; 4- study with prospective evaluation; 5- at least two measurements about outcomes obtained; 6- the minimum duration of treatment was 6 weeks; 7- age ≥18 years; 8- patients who had any disease that could interfere with lipid or CV measures, hypothalamic/pituitary or other non-thyroid diseases; 9- patients not taking thyroid medication or others that could interfere with lipid, CV or thyroid mean.