Skip to main content
. 2015 Oct 1;6(4):189–204. doi: 10.15171/ijoem.2015.608
Table 1: Methodological Quality Review (Questions and Weighting)
Common Criteria for both Qualitative and Quantitative Methodological Review
Question Answer Choice Score
Did the authors have a clearly focused question? Yes 1
No 0
Were inclusion/exclusion criteria used? Yes 1
No 0
Not specified 0
Did the authors describe a search strategy that was comprehensive and reproducible? Yes 1
No 0
Not specified 0
Please click the search strategies used (selected/unselected) a. Five or more databases: 2
b. Two to four databases: 1
c. One database: 0
Did search strategy cover an adequate number of years? (10+ years) Yes 1
No 0
Does the data support the author’s interpretation? Yes, mostly 1
No 0
Are there any concerns related to COI? Yes 0
No 1
Specific Criteria Quantitative Methodological Quality
Question Answer Choice Score
Did the review assess the methodological quality of the primary studies? Yes 1
No 0
What methods did the authors use to combine or compare results across studies? Meta-analyses 2
Descriptive + quality weight 2
Descriptive no weight 1
Other 0
How strong was the level of evidence supporting the strongest conclusions of the study? Level 1 (RCT) 2
Level 2 (non-random) 1
Level 3 (uncontrolled) 0
Unclear 0
Total score possible: 13