Table 4.
Risk of bias table for HCV antibody
| Patient selection | Bias | Index test | Bias | Reference standard | Bias | Flow | Bias | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Was a case control design avoided? Consecutive or random sample of patients? Inappropriate exclusions? |
Blinded to reference standard Could the conduct or interpretation of the index test have introduced bias? |
Blinded to index? Could the reference standard have introduced bias? |
There is an appropriate interval between the index test and reference standard? All patients receive the same reference standard? All patients recruited into the study are included in the analysis? |
|||||
| Brandao | No case control design, consecutive sample, no exclusions | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Sampling reported, same reference standard | LR |
| Croom | Sampling from high-risk and low risk groups | UR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | All patients included, same reference standard | LR |
| Chevaliez | NR | UR | NR | UR | NR | UR | NR | UR |
| Dokubo | No case control, concurrent sampling from a prospective cohort | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Sampling reported, same reference standard, all patients recruited included in analysis | LR |
| Flores | Case control design | HR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Sampling reported, same reference standard, all patients recruited included in analysis | LR |
| Gruner | NR | UR | Not blinded, NR | UR | NR | UR | NR | UR |
| Kania | Consecutive recruitment | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Sampling reported | LR |
| Larrat | Consecutive recruitment, but of known cases and known negative controls | HR | blinded | LR | Blinded | LR | Sampling reported, same reference standard | LR |
| Lee | Consecutive recruitment | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Sampling reported, same reference standard | LR |
| Lukacs | NR | UR | NR | UR | NR | UR | Sampling reported, same reference standard | LR |
| McCarron | Case control, known positive and negative cases from prevalence survey | HR | NR | UR | NR | UR | NR | UR |
| Marques 2012 | No case control design | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Sampling reported, same reference standard | LR |
| Marques 2016 | NR | UR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | UR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | UR | NR, same reference standard, NR | UR |
| Mossner | Sampling from high-risk and low risk groups | UR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | UR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | UR | Sampling reported, same reference standard, all patients included in analysis | LR |
| Nandagopal | NR | UR | NR | UR | NR | UR | NR | UR |
| O Brien | No case control design, | LR | Blinded | LR | Blinded | LR | Sampling partly reported, same reference standard | LR |
| Parker | Case control design | HR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Sampling partly reported, same reference standard | LR |
| Ross | Possible case control design, sampling NR | HR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Flow reported | LR |
| Sheperd | No case control design, but partly sampling from patients with known disease | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | NR | UR |
| Soulier | Sampling from high-risk and low risk-groups | HR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | NR, same reference standard, NR | LR |
| Tejada-Strop | Case control | HR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | NR | UR |
| Tuaillon, E | Case control | HR | Blinded | LR | Blinded | LR | Sampling reported, same reference standard | LR |
| Waterboer, T | No case control | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | Not blinded, interpretation unbiased | LR | NR | UR |
Abbreviations: LR: low risk, HR: high risk, UR: unknown risk, NR: not reported; shaded: low risk of bias