Table 2.
Methodological Quality of Included Studiesa.
| Author/year/country | Randomization | Allocation concealment | Blinding | Incomplete outcome data | Selective outcome reporting | Other sources of bias |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bao et al26/2013/USA | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Mentioned | Yes (patients, oncologist, and statistician) | No | No | Unclear |
| Crew et al27/2007/USA | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Mentioned | No | Unclear | No | Unclear |
| Crew et al28/2010/USA | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Using opaque, numbered envelopes | Yes (patients) | Unclear | No | Unclear |
| Deng et al16/2007/USA | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Mentioned | Yes (subject, patients) | Yes | No | Unclear |
| Nedstrand et al33/2005/Sweden | Unclear | Using opaque, numbered envelopes | Unclear | Unclear | No | Unclear |
| Frisk et al34/2008/Sweden | Randomized using random number table | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | No | Unclear |
| Hervik and Mjaland35/2009/Norway | Unclear | Using opaque, numbered envelopes | Yes (patients) | No | No | Unclear |
| Hervik and Mjaland36/2014/Norway | Mentioned | No | Yes (patients) | No | No | Unclear |
| Hershman et al29/2018/USA | Mentioned | No | No | Yes | Yes | Unclear |
| Johnston et al37/2011/USA | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | No | Unclear |
| Lesi et al38/2016/Italy | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Unclear | Yes (subject and patients) | No | No | Unclear |
| Liljegren et al30/2012/Sweden | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Using opaque, numbered envelopes | Yes (study investigators, subject, statistician, patients) | No | Unclear | Unclear |
| Mao et al31/2014/USA (I) | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Using opaque, numbered envelopes | Yes (patients) | No | No | Unclear |
| Mao et al19/2014/USA (II) | Randomized using a computer-generated random numbers table | Using opaque, numbered envelopes | Yes (investigator, study staff, statistician | No | No | Unclear |
| Mao et al39/2015/USA | Randomized using random permuted blocks | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | No | Unclear |
| Molassiotis et al17/2013/UK | Unclear | Using opaque, numbered envelopes | Unclear | No | No | Unclear |
| Nedstrand et al32/2006/Sweden | Randomized using random number table | Mentioned | Yes (subject, patients) | No | No | Unclear |
| Smith et al18/2013/Australia | Randomized using random number table | Using opaque, numbered envelopes | Unclear | No | No | Unclear |
| Garland et al40/2017/Canada | Mentioned | No | No | No | No | Unclear |
| Yao et al41/2016/Korea | Randomized using random number table | Mentioned | Yes | No | No | Unclear |
a
Each item can be categorized based on the answer “yes,” “unclear,” or “no” depending on the appropriateness of the reported information of included randomized controlled trials.