Table 1 Quality assessment of the included studies following the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ARHQ) methodology checklist [20]
Item | Segura-Saint-Gerons et al. [22] | Schmalz et al. [23] | Schmalz et al. [24] | Schmalz et al. [25] | Ruokonen et al. [21] | Schmalz et al. [26] | Oduncuoğlu et al. [27] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1) Define the source of information (survey, record review) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2) List inclusion and exclusion criteria for exposed and unexposed subjects (cases and controls) or refer to previous publications | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
3) Indicate time period used for identifying patients | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
4) Indicate whether or not subjects were consecutive if not population-based | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
5) Indicate if evaluators of subjective components of study were masked to other aspects of the status of the participants | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
6) Describe any assessments undertaken for quality assurance purposes (e.g., test/retest of primary outcome measurements) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
7) Explain any patient exclusions from analysis | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA |
8) Describe how confounding was assessed and/or controlled | Yes | U | U | U | U | Yes | Yes |
9) If applicable, explain how missing data were handled in the analysis | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
10) Summarize patient response rates and completeness of data collection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
11) Clarify what follow-up, if any, was expected and the percentage of patients for which incomplete data or follow-up was obtained | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA |
Total score | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 |