Table 2.

Summary of studies considering risk factors associated with the outcome of pediatric bacterial meningitis.

Quality assessment							Quality
Studies	Study design	Methodological bias	Inconsistency	Indirect evidence	Imprecision	Publication bias
	Risk factors associated with the outcome of pediatric bacterial meningitis
17	8 prospective cohort	No severe limitationa	Severe inconsistencyb	No important indirect evidencec	Severe imprecisiond	No important publication biase	Very lowf
	6 retrospective cohort
	2 case-control
	1 cross-sectional

^aAll the studies were observational, presenting a greater risk of bias.

^bGiven that these were not meta-analyses, I² was not calculated.

^cAlthough the studies presented methodological differences between themselves and based on the population, exposition, comparison, outcome, and study type (PECOS) analysis of the review, no important indirect evidence was observed.

^dThe absolute effect (difference between the exposed and non-exposed groups) was not calculated because the studies did not present effect measures.

^eDespite few studies found, an extensive search was conducted in several databases and the references of the studies. There was no language restriction.

^fThe Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) quality of evidence in the review was very low, since it had already begun with a low level of evidence, given that only observational studies were found.