| Quality measure |
Details |
Score |
Comments |
| QA question 1 |
Are the research questions and inclusion criteria for the review clearly delineated? |
1 = “Yes” = Who (Population), What (Intervention, Comparator group, Outcome), Where and When described. |
general but concrete description of aims |
| QA question 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? |
0 = ”No” = research question and inclusion criteria not outlined in detail. |
not provided |
| QA question 3 |
Did the review authors explain their selection of the study designs for inclusion in the review? |
0.5 = “Can’t answer / not sure / partially” =Cannot decide between “yes” and “no”, basing on the information provided in the paper. |
included primary experimental studies; detailed criteria provided but no justification other than "following earlier reviews" on this topic |
| QA question 4 |
Did the review authors use a comprehensive literature search strategy? |
0.5 = “Can’t answer / not sure / partially” = searched at least 2 databases (relevant to research question), provided key word and/or general search strategy, justified publication restrictions (e.g., language). |
"The bibliographic search was carried out by two independent reviewers (MG and MTM) through two of the most used search engines, MEDLINE (National Library of Medicine) and Scopus (Web of Science)"; no other sources were used |
| QA question 5 |
Did the review authors perform study selection in duplicate? |
1 = “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 OR two reviewers selected a sample of eligible studies and achieved good agreement (at least 80%), with the remainder selected by one reviewer. |
The bibliographic search was carried out by two independent reviewers (MG and MTM) |
| QA question 6 |
Did the review authors perform data extraction in duplicate? |
1 = “Yes” = either ONE of the following: at least two reviewers achieved consensus on which data to extract from included studies OR two reviewers extracted data from a sample of eligible studies and achieved good agreement (at least 8 %), with the remainder extracted by one reviewer. |
The two reviewers independently worked on data extraction and evaluation of the quality of the studies |
| QA question 7 |
Did the review authors provide a list of excluded studies and justify the exclusions? |
0 =”No” = No list of studies excluded at a full-text stage. |
not provided |
| QA question 8 |
Did the review authors describe the included studies in adequate detail? |
1 = “Yes” = ALL the following: Who (Population), What (Intervention, Comparator group, Outcome), Where and When described in detail. |
table 1, table 2 |
| QA question 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? |
1 = “Yes” = specifically mentions RoB assessment of individual included studies. |
assessed confounding factors and potential biases (Tables 1, 2, S1) |
| QA question 10 |
Did the review authors report on the sources of funding for the studies included in the review? |
1 = “Yes” = Must have reported on the sources of funding for individual studies included in the review. Note: Stating that the reviewers looked for this information but it was not reported by study authors, also qualifies. |
provided |
| QA question 11 |
If meta-analysis was performed did the review authors use appropriate methods for statistical combination of results? |
N/A |
discussed in "4.4. Limitations of Our Classification Criteria" |
| QA question 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? |
N/A |
no meta-analysis |
| QA question 13 |
Did the review authors account for RoB in individual studies when interpreting/ discussing the results of the review? |
0 =”No” = no discussion of the potential impact of RoB in individual studies. |
not provided |
| QA question 14 |
Did the review authors provide a satisfactory explanation for, and discussion of, any heterogeneity observed in the results of the review? |
0.5 = “Can’t answer / not sure / partially” = Cannot decide between “yes” and “no”, basing on the information provided in the paper. |
some of the studies discussed in "4.4. Limitations of Our Classification Criteria" |
| QA question 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? |
N/A |
no meta-analysis |
| QA question 16 |
Did the review authors report any potential sources of conflict of interest, including any funding they received for conducting the review? |
1 = “Yes” = The authors reported no competing interests OR the authors described their funding sources and how they managed potential conflicts of interest. |
The authors declare no conflict of interest |
| Quality index |
Overall rating (Quality Index) assigned to each SR, highlighting whether major concerns arose during quality assessment that may affect overall conclusions of a SR: A = Minimal flaws; B = Some flaws; C = Major flaws in many aspects of the review. |
A |
no protocol, some details missing |
| Suggested review type |
Actual review type:systematic map, systematic review, rapid review, scoping review, narrative review, etc. |
rapid review |
N/A |
| Risk of bias level |
How likely are the main conclusions of the review to be biased? Basing on review type and quality index and quality_index_comment assign: high moderate or low risk? |
low |
quite detailed and thorough sytematic review; includes quality and bias assessment |