Table 3 Assessment of study quality using the STROBE checklist
Item Number | Recommendations | Abourazzak et al., 2014 [18] | Al-zahrani amd Bakheit, 2002 [19] | Anan et al., 2015 [20] | Arnold et al., 2014 [21] | Bechard et al., 2012 [22] | Booij et al., 2020 [23] | Butler et al., 2009 [24] | Butler et al., 2011 [25] | Charlton et al. 2018 [28] | Chang et al., 2007 [27] | Chapman et al., 2015 [26] | Elbaz et al., 2017 [29] | Erhart-Hledik et al., 2017 [30] | Gardner et al., 2015 [31] | Guler et al., 2009 [32] | Guo et al., 2007 [33] | Hinman et al., 2012 [34] | Hinman et al., 2016 [35] | Khan et al., 2019 [36] | Krackow et al., 2011 [37] |
1a | Abstract: study’s design in the title or the abstract | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
1b | Abstract: balanced summary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2 | Introduction: background and rationale | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
3 | Introduction: objectives, including hypotheses | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
4 | Methods: study design early in the paper | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
5 | Methods: setting, locations, and relevant dates, recruitment, data collection | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
6a | Methods: cohort eligibility criteria, follow-up | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
6a | Methods: case-control: eligibility criteria of cases and controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
6a | Methods: cross-sectional: eligibility criteria and methods of participants’ selection | NA | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
6b | Methods: cohort: number of exposed and unexposed | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA |
6b | Methods: case-control: matching criteria | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
7 | Methods: define outcomes, exposures, diagnostic criteria | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
8 | Methods: sources of data, methods of assessment (measurement) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
9 | Methods: how bias addressed | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
10 | Methods: power analysis | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
11 | Methods: quantitative variables addressed | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
12a | Methods: statistical methods | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
12b | Methods: statistical subgroups and interactions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
12c | Methods: how missing data addressed | NA | No | NA | No | No | No | NA | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
12d | Methods: cohort: how loss to follow-up addressed | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
12d | Methods: case-control: how matching of cases and controls addressed | No | No | No | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA |
12d | Methods: cross-sectional: sampling strategy | NA | NA | NA | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | NA | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | NA | No | No |
12e | Methods: sensitivity analyses | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
13a | Results: numbers of individuals at each stage | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
13b | Results: reasons for non-participation at each stage | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
13c | Results: use of a flow diagram | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
14a | Results: characteristics of study participants | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
14b | Results: number with missing data | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
14c | Results: cohort: follow-up time | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
15 | Results: cohort: summary measures over time | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
15 | Results: case-control: summary measures of exposure | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | No | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA |
15 | Results: cross-sectional: numbers of events or measures | NA | NA | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes |
16a | Results: unadjusted estimates | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
16b | Results: category boundaries | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | NA | No | No |
16c | Results: translating relative risk into absolute risk | NA | No | No | Yes | No | NA | No | No | No | No | No | NA | No | NA | NA | No | No | NA | No | No |
17 | Results: other analyses (subgroups and interactions, and sensitivity) | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
18 | Discussion: summarise key results with reference to study objectives | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
19 | Discussion: limitations | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
20 | Discussion: overall interpretation of results considering other relevant evidence | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
21 | Discussion: generalisability of results | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
22 | Funding: source of funding | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
% | Total percentage of successfully reported criteria in each study | 61 | 42 | 58 | 72 | 58 | 58 | 53 | 72 | 50 | 66 | 63 | 64 | 59 | 63 | 48 | 53 | 61 | 94 | 61 | 56 |
Item Number | Recommendations | Levinger et al., 2010 [38] | Levinger et al., 2012a [39] | Levinger et al., 2012 [40] | Lidtke et al., 2010 [41] | Nigg et al., 2006 [42] | Ohi et al., 2017 [43] | Paquette et al., 2015 [44] | Park et al., 2016 [45] | Reilly et al., 2006 [46] | Reilly et al., 2009 [47] | Rutherford et al., 2008 [48] | Rutherford et al., 2010 [49] | Saito et al., 2013 [50] | Shakoor et al., 2008 [51] | Simic et al., 2013 [52] | Tan et al., 2020 [53] | Trombini-Souza et al., 2011 [54] | Van Tunen et al., 2018 [55] | Zhang et al., 2017 [56] | |
1a | Abstract: study’s design in the title or the abstract | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
1b | Abstract: balanced summary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2 | Introduction: background and rationale | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
3 | Introduction: objectives, including hypotheses | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
4 | Methods: study design early in the paper | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
5 | Methods: setting, locations, and relevant dates, recruitment, data collection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
6a | Methods: cohort eligibility criteria, follow-up | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
6a | Methods: case-control: eligibility criteria of cases and controls | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | |
6a | Methods: cross-sectional: eligibility criteria and methods of participants’ selection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | |
6b | Methods: cohort: number of exposed and unexposed | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
6b | Methods: case-control: matching criteria | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | |
7 | Methods: define outcomes, exposures, diagnostic criteria | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
8 | Methods: sources of data, methods of assessment (measurement) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
9 | Methods: how bias addressed | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
10 | Methods: power analysis | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
11 | Methods: quantitative variables addressed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
12a | Methods: statistical methods | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
12b | Methods: statistical subgroups and interactions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
12c | Methods: how missing data addressed | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
12d | Methods: cohort: how loss to follow-up addressed | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
12d | Methods: case-control: how matching of cases and controls addressed | NA | No | No | No | NA | NA | No | No | No | NA | NA | No | No | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | No | |
12d | Methods: cross-sectional: sampling strategy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | NA | NA | Yes | No | NA | NA | No | NA | Yes | No | No | NA | |
12e | Methods: sensitivity analyses | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
13a | Results: numbers of individuals at each stage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
13b | Results: reasons for non-participation at each stage | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
13c | Results: use of a flow diagram | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
14a | Results: characteristics of study participants | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
14b | Results: number with missing data | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
14c | Results: cohort: follow-up time | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
15 | Results: cohort: summary measures over time | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
15 | Results: case-control: summary measures of exposure | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | No | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes | |
15 | Results: cross-sectional: numbers of events or measures | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | |
16a | Results: unadjusted estimates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
16b | Results: category boundaries | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
16c | Results: translating relative risk into absolute risk | NA | No | No | NA | No | NA | No | NA | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
17 | Results: other analyses (subgroups and interactions, and sensitivity) | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
18 | Discussion: summarise key results with reference to study objectives | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
19 | Discussion: limitations | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
20 | Discussion: overall interpretation of results considering other relevant evidence | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
21 | Discussion: generalisability of results | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
22 | Funding: source of funding | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
% | Total percentage of successfully reported criteria in each study | 56 | 60 | 63 | 62 | 83 | 84 | 69 | 58 | 61 | 81 | 63 | 63 | 52 | 63 | 60 | 69 | 50 | 69 | 48 | |