Questions (potential bias) | Lu et al. (2019) [48] |
---|---|
1. Is it clear in the study what is the ‘cause’ and what is the ‘effect’? (causation/reverse causation) | Yes |
2. Were the participants included in any comparisons similar? (selection bias) | Yes |
3. Were the participants included in any comparisons receiving similar treatment/care, other than the intervention of interest? (history threat/systematic difference/contamination bias) | Yes |
4. Was there a control group? (measurement bias) | Yes |
5. Were there multiple measurements of the outcome both before and after the intervention? (maturation threat, regression to the mean) | Yes |
6. Was follow-up complete, and if not, was follow-up adequately reported and strategies to deal with loss to follow-up employed? (attrition bias) | Yes |
7. Were the outcomes of participants included in any comparisons measured in the same way? (instrumentation/testing effects threats) | Yes |
8. Were outcomes measured in a reliable way? (detection/instrument/measurement bias) | Yes |
9. Was appropriate statistical analysis used? (performance / detection bias) | Yes |