Table 3.
Quality evaluation of quasi-experimental studies
| Quasi-experimental studies | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Items | Pechter [32] (2003) | Viana [33] (2014) | Nylen [34] (2015) | Hamada [35] (2016) | Zhang [36] (2018) |
| 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2 | Yes | Yes | Not applicable | Not applicable | Yes |
| 3 | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unclear |
| 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not applicable | Yes |
| 5 | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| 6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 7 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 8 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 9 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Notes. 1 Is it clear in the study what is the ‘cause’ and what is the ‘effect’ (i.e. there is no confusion about which variable comes first)? 2 Were the participants included in any comparisons similar? 3 Were the participants included in any comparisons receiving similar treatment/care, other than the exposure or intervention of interest? 4 Was there a control group? 5 Were there multiple measurements of the outcome both pre and post the intervention/exposure? 6 Was follow up complete and if not, were differences between groups in terms of their follow up adequately described and analysed? 7 Were the outcomes of participants included in any comparisons measured in the same way? 8 Were outcomes measured in a reliable way? 9 Was appropriate statistical analysis used?