1. Did the research questions and
inclusion criteria for the review include the components
of PICO?
|
For Yes: |
Optional (recommended) |
|
Population |
Timeframe for follow up |
Yes
No |
Intervention |
|
Comparator group |
|
Outcome |
|
2. Did the report of the review contain an
explicit statement that the review methods were
established prior to the conduct of the review and did
the report justify any significant deviations from the
protocol?
|
For Partial Yes: The authors state that they had a
written protocol or guide that included ALL the
following: |
For Yes: As for partial yes, plus the protocol should
be registered and should also have specified: |
|
review
question(s) |
a
meta-analysis/synthesis plan, if appropriate, and |
Yes
Partial Yes
No |
a
search strategy |
a plan
for investigating causes of heterogeneity |
|
inclusion/exclusion criteria |
a plan
for investigating causes of heterogeneity |
|
a risk
of bias assessment |
|
|
3. Did the review authors explain their
selection of the study designs for inclusion in the
review?
|
For Yes, the review should satisfy ONE of the
following: |
|
Explanation for including only RCTs |
Yes
No |
OR
Explanation for including only NRSI |
OR
Explanation for including both RCTs and NRSI |
4. Did the review authors use a
comprehensive literature search strategy?
|
For Partial Yes (all the following): |
For Yes, should also have (all the following): |
|
searched at least 2 databases (relevant to research
question) |
searched the reference lists / bibliographies of included
studies |
Yes
Partial Yes
No |
provided key word and/or search strategy |
searched trial/study registries |
justified publication restrictions (eg language) |
included/consulted content experts in the field |
|
where
relevant, searched for grey literature |
|
conducted search within 24 months of completion of the
review |
5. Did the review authors perform study
selection in duplicate?
|
For Yes, either ONE of the following: |
|
at
least two reviewers independently agreed on selection of
eligible studies and achieved consensus on which studies to
include |
Yes
No |
OR two
reviewers selected a sample of eligible studies and achieved
good agreement (at least 80%), with the remainder selected
by one reviewer. |
6. Did the review authors perform data
extraction in duplicate?
|
For Yes, either ONE of the following: |
|
at
least two reviewers achieved consensus on which data to
extract from included studies |
Yes
No |
OR two
reviewers extracted data from a sample of eligible studies
and achieved good agreement (at least 80%), with the
remainder extracted by one reviewer. |
7. Did the review authors provide a list
of excluded studies and justify the
exclusions?
|
For Partial Yes: |
For Yes, must also have: |
|
provided a list of all potentially relevant studies that
were read in full-text form but excluded from the
review |
Justified the exclusion from the review of each potentially
relevant study |
Yes
Partial Yes
No |
8. Did the review authors describe the
included studies in adequate detail?
|
For Partial Yes (ALL the following): |
For Yes, should also have ALL the following: |
|
described populations |
described population in detail |
Yes
Partial Yes
No |
described interventions |
described intervention in detail (including doses where
relevant) |
described comparators |
described comparator in detail (including doses where
relevant) |
described outcomes |
described study's setting |
described research designs |
timeframe for follow-up |
9. Did the review authors use a
satisfactory technique for assessing the risk of bias
(RoB) in individual studies that were included in the
review?
|
RCTs
|
|
|
For Partial Yes, must have assessed RoB from |
For Yes, must also have assessed RoB from: |
|
unconcealed allocation, and |
allocation sequence that was not truly random, and |
Yes
Partial Yes
No
Includes only NRSI |
lack
of blinding of patients and assessors when assessing
outcomes (unnecessary for objective outcomes such as
all-cause mortality) |
selection of the reported result from among multiple
measurements or analyses of a specified outcome |
NRSI
|
|
|
For Partial Yes, must have assessed RoB: |
For Yes, must also have assessed RoB: |
|
from
confounding, and |
methods used to ascertain exposures and outcomes, and |
Yes
Partial Yes
No
Includes only RCTs |
from
selection bias |
selection of the reported result from among multiple
measurements or analyses of a specified outcome |
10. Did the review authors report on the
sources of funding for the studies included in the
review?
|
For Yes |
|
Must
have reported on the sources of funding for individual
studies included in the review. Note: Reporting that the
reviewers looked for this information but it was not
reported by study authors also qualifies |
Yes
No |
11. If meta-analysis was performed did the
review authors use appropriate methods for statistical
combination of results?
|
RCTs
|
|
For Yes: |
|
The
authors justified combining the data in a meta-analysis |
Yes
No
No
meta-analysis conducted |
AND
they used an appropriate weighted technique to combine study
results and adjusted for heterogeneity if present. |
AND
investigated the causes of any heterogeneity |
For NRSI
|
|
For Yes: |
|
The
authors justified combining the data in a meta-analysis |
Yes
No
No
meta-analysis conducted |
AND
they used an appropriate weighted technique to combine study
results, adjusting for heterogeneity if present |
AND
they statistically combined effect estimates from NRSI that
were adjusted for confounding, rather than combining raw
data, or justified combining raw data when adjusted effect
estimates were not available |
AND
they reported separate summary estimates for RCTs and NRSI
separately when both were included in the review |
12. If meta-analysis was performed, did
the review authors assess the potential impact of RoB in
individual studies on the results of the meta-analysis
or other evidence synthesis?
|
For Yes: |
|
included only low risk of bias RCTs |
Yes
No
No
meta-analysis conducted |
OR, if
the pooled estimate was based on RCTs and/or NRSI at
variable RoB, the authors performed analyses to investigate
possible impact of RoB on summary estimates of effect. |
13. Did the review authors account for RoB
in individual studies when interpreting/ discussing the
results of the review?
|
For Yes: |
|
included only low risk of bias RCTs |
Yes
No |
OR, if
RCTs with moderate or high RoB, or NRSI were included the
review provided a discussion of the likely impact of RoB on
the results |
14. Did the review authors provide a
satisfactory explanation for, and discussion of, any
heterogeneity observed in the results of the
review?
|
For Yes: |
|
There
was no significant heterogeneity in the results |
Yes
No |
OR if
heterogeneity was present the authors performed an
investigation of sources of any heterogeneity in the results
and discussed the impact of this on the results of the
review |
15. If they performed quantitative
synthesis did the review authors carry out an adequate
investigation of publication bias (small study bias) and
discuss its likely impact on the results of the
review?
|
For Yes: |
|
performed graphical or statistical tests for publication
bias and discussed the likelihood and magnitude of impact of
publication bias |
Yes
No
No
meta-analysis conducted |
16. Did the review authors report any
potential sources of conflict of interest, including any
funding they received for conducting the
review?
|
For Yes: |
|
The
authors reported no competing interests OR |
Yes
No |
The
authors described their funding sources and how they managed
potential conflicts of interest |