Table 1.

Risk-of-bias assessment.⁷

Item	Scoring
Selection
1. Is the control group representative for normal adolescents?	1 = community control; 0 = hospital control, 0 = no description of source
2. Was other pathology excluded that possibly influences the outcome?	1 = yes; 0 = no or no description
Comparability
3. Were the same inclusion and exclusion criteria (except for spinal deformity) used for AIS and healthy adolescents?	1 = yes; 0 = no or no description
Exposure/outcome
4. Were observers blinded to AIS/healthy adolescent status?	1 = yes; 0 = no or no description
5. Was the data collection performed in the same standardized way for AIS cases and healthy adolescents?	1 = yes; 0 = no or no description
6. Was the primary outcome parameter for AIS cases and healthy adolescents available?	1 = available for >90% of AIS and healthy adolescents; 0 = available for <90% of AIS and healthy adolescents