Table 2.
Study design according to main and secondary outcomes and continents
| Comparative non-randomized | Comparative AND randomized | Survey or questionnaire | Descriptive experience | Expert opinion, editorial or comment | Systematic review and meta-analysis | Narrative review | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of studies | 32 | 16 | 45 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Sample sizea |
162 [20–1707] |
121 [31–1649] |
124 [14–569] |
73 [16–561] |
- |
1652 [1003–2061] |
- |
| Main outcomes | |||||||
| Performance | 21 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Knowledge retention | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | - |
| Student satisfaction | 6 | - | 25 | 5 | - | - | - |
| Tutor satisfaction | - | - | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Not specified | - | - | - | 5 | 3 | - | - |
| Other | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Secondary outcomes | |||||||
| Knowledge retention | 3 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Student satisfaction | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Tutor satisfaction | 1 | - | 5 | 3 | - | - | - |
| Social and/or communication skills | 1 | - | 3 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Reasoning | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - |
| Other | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | - |
| Continent | |||||||
| Asia | 6 | 8 | 22 | 5 | - | 4 | - |
| North America | 16 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Europe | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| Africa | 2 | - | 3 | 2 | - | - | - |
| Oceania | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| South America | 3 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
aSample size was available in 99 studies. Results are expressed in median and [range]