Table 3.

Study quality

RCTs	Randomized adequatelya	Allocation concealed	Patient blinded	Care provider blinded	Outcome assessor blinded	Acceptable dropout rateb	ITT analysisc	Avoided selective reporting	Similar baseline	Similar or avoided cofactor	Patient compliance	Similar timing	Qualityd
Sadeghi and Mehr-Aein (2007)18	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Unclear	High
Zufferey et al (2010)19	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	High
Emara et al (2014)21	Unclear	Unclear	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	High
Mohib et al (2015)23	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	High
Tengberg et al (2016)26	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Unclear	High
Haghighi et al (2017)28	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	High
Watts et al (2017)30	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	High
Baruah et al (2016)24	Unclear	Unclear	Unclear	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	Moderate
Vijay et al (2013)20	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	High
Drakos et al (2016)25	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	High
Virani et al (2016)27	Unclear	Unclear	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	Moderate
Lei et al (2017)29	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Unclear	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Yes	High

Notes:

^aOnly if the method of sequence made was explicitly introduced could get a “Yes”.

^bDropout rate <20% could get a “Yes”, otherwise “No”.

^cITT = intention-to-treat, only if all randomized participants were analyzed in the group they were allocated to could receive a “Yes”.

^d“Yes” items more than seven means “High”, more than four but no more than seven means “Moderate” and no more than four means “Low”.

Abbreviation: RCT, randomized controlled trial.