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. 2022 Jul 11;130(7):076001. doi: 10.1289/EHP10197

Table 1.

Criteria for assessing risk of bias of individual studies (adapted from the WHO review19).

Bias domain Criteria Risk of bias
A. Selection bias Random sampling, areas selected based on noise exposure, 50% response rate,a inclusion criteria not contingent on sleep and health conditions Low
a. <50% response rate,a or
b. Non-random sampling, or
c. Sampling not based on noise exposure, or
d. Individuals were excluded based on sleep and health criteria
High
Insufficient information to make a judgment Unclear
B. Information bias (exposure assessment) a. Based on measurements for at least 1 wk, or
b. Based on a noise map that was verified by noise measurements, or
c. Based on a noise map that was based on actual traffic data
Low
a. Based on measurements of <1wk, or measurements were not continuous, or
b. Based on a noise map that was not verified by noise measurements, or the predictions were not based on actual traffic data
High
Insufficient information to make a judgment Unclear
C. Bias due to confounding All most-important confounders accounted for in analysis Low
No accounting for important confounders High
Insufficient information to make a judgment Unclear
D. Reporting bias Complete reporting of all outcomes analyzed including nonsignificant results Low
Not all outcomes reported, underreporting methods or statistical analysis, not reporting conflicts of interest High
Insufficient information to make a judgment Unclear

Note: WHO, World Health Organization.

aThe 50% response rate criterion was based on recommendations for cross-sectional studies by the National Institutes of Health.38