Table 4.

Methodological quality assessment of included randomized controlled trials using Delphi list

Variable	Study
	Nemoto et al. [20]	Li et al. [22]	Liu et al. [26]	Guo et al. [30]
Randomization method used	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Groups were similar at baseline regarding most important prognostic indicators	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Eligibility criteria were specified	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Outcome assessor was blinded	No	No	Yes	No
Care provider was blinded	No	No	No	No
Patient was blinded	No	Yes	No	No
Point estimates and measures of variability were presented for primary outcome measures	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Analysis includes an intention-to-treat analysis	No	No	No	No