Table 4. Quality assessment for primary studies of included systematic reviews.
| QUALITY ASSESSMENT | SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Moraissi et al[29] | Canellas et al[30] | Fernandez-Ferrer et al[32] | He et al[27] | Christovam et al[31] | Mattos et al[18] | |
| Assessment method* | Self-developed criteria to assess risk of bias (based on MOOSE, STROBE and PRISMA) | Not reported |
CONSORT criteria | MINORS criteria | Risk of bias based on quality assessment method reported by Mattos et al[18] | Self-compiled criteria for quality of methodological soundness (mostly based on CONSORT statement) |
| Assessment criteria | 1. Random selection in population 2. Definition of inclusion and exclusion criteria 3. Report of losses to follow-up 4. Validated measurements 5. Statistical analysis |
- | Not reported | 12 items (details not reported) | 1. Eligible criteria for participants described 2. Presence of control group 3. Blinding assessment stated 4. Statistical treatment performed 5. Reliability of measures tested 6. Reporting drop-outs 7. Follow-up period reported 8. Potential bias and trial limitations addressed |
|
| Scoring method | Low risk (included all criteria), moderate risk (did not include one of the criteria), high risk (two /> criteria were missing) | - | Not reported | Low risk of bias (19–24); Moderate risk (13–18); High risk (0–12) | Low risk of bias (≥4.5); Moderate risk (>2 and <4.5); High risk (≤2) | High quality (>6 points); Moderate quality (4–6 points); Low quality (<4 points) |
| Results | 1 low risk; 7 moderate risk | - | 11 moderate quality; 3 high quality | 8 low risk; 10 moderate risk | 6 low risk; 7 moderate risk; | 11 moderate quality |
| Remark | - | - | Refer to text in discussion | - | High risk paper was excluded from the review | Low quality studies were excluded from the review. |
* MOOSE: Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology Statement; STROBE: Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement; PRISMA: Preferred Reporting items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses; CONSORT: Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials; MINORS: Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies