| Gilchrist 2000 | Hagel 2006 | Ji 2006 | Lee 2005 | Macpherson 2002 | Wesson 2007 |
| REPORTING
Is the hypothesis/aim/objective of the study clearly described? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING
Are the main outcomes to be measured clearly described in the Introduction or Methods section? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING
Are the characteristics of the patients included in the study clearly described? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING
Are the interventions of interest clearly described? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING
Are the distributions of principal confounders in each group of subjects to be compared clearly described? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING
Are the main findings of the study clearly described? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING
Does the study provide estimates of the random variability in the data for the main outcomes? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING
Have all important adverse events that may be a consequence of the intervention been reported? | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| REPORTING
Have the characteristics of patients lost to follow‐up been described? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING
Have actual probability values been reported for the main outcomes except where the probability value is less than 0.001? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EXTERNAL VALIDITY
Were the subjects asked to participate in the study representative of the entire populations from which they were recruited? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EXTERNAL VALIDITY
Were those subjects who were prepared to participate representative of the entire population from which they recruited? | Yes | Unclear | Yes | Unclear | Yes | Yes |
| EXTERNAL VALIDITY
Were the staff, places, and facilities where the patients were treated, representative of the treatment the majority of patients receive? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Was an attempt made to blind study subjects to the intervention they have received? | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Was an attempt made to blind those measuring the main outcomes of the intervention? | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
If any of the results of the study were based on 'data dredging', was this made clear? | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
In trials and cohort studies, do the analyses adjust for different lengths of follow‐up of patients, or in case‐control studies, is the time period between the intervention and outcome the same for cases and controls? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Were the statistical tests used to assess the main outcomes appropriate? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Was the compliance with the intervention/s reliable? | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Were the main outcome measures used accurate (valid and reliable)? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Were the patients in different interventions groups (trials and cohorts studies) or were the cases and control (case‐control studies) recruited from the same population? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Were the patients in different interventions groups (trials and cohorts studies) or were the cases and control (case‐control studies) recruited over the same period of time? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Were the study subjects randomised to intervention groups? | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Was the randomised intervention assignment concealed from both patients and health care staff until recruitment was complete and irrevocable? | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Was there adequate adjustment for confounding in the analyses from which the main findings were drawn? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| INTERNAL VALIDITY
Were losses of patients to follow‐up taken into account? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
