Table 2.1 Summaries of JBI quality appraisal assessments-randomized controlled trial: quality assessment [21]

Q1. Was true randomization used for assignment of participants to treatment groups?

X

✔

✔

✔

Q2. Was allocation to treatment groups concealed?

X

X

X

✔

Q3. Were treatment groups similar at the baseline?

(Rationale: to minimise selection bias)

✔

✔

NA

✔

Q4. Were participants blind to treatment assignment?

✔

✔

X

✔

Q5. Were those delivering treatment blind to treatment assignment?

X

X

X

X

Q6. Were outcomes assessors blind to treatment assignment?

U

✔

X

X

Q7. Were treatment groups treated identically other than the intervention of interest?

(Rationale: to minimise performance bias)

✔

✔

✔

✔

Q8. Was follow up complete and if not, were differences between groups in terms of their follow up adequately described and analyzed?

NA

NA

✔

✔

Q9. Were participants analyzed in the groups to which they were randomized?

✔

✔

✔

✔

Q10. Were outcomes measured in the same way for treatment groups?

(Rationale: to minimise detection bias )

✔

✔

✔

✔

Q11. Were outcomes measured in a reliable way?

(Rationale: to minimise risks of weakening the validity of inferences about the statistical relationships between ‘cause’ and ‘effect’.)

✔

X

✔

✔

Q12. Was appropriate statistical analysis used?

(Rationale: to minimise errors of statistical inference.)

✔

✔

✔

✔

Q13. Was the trial design appropriate, and any deviations from the standard RCT design (individual randomization, parallel groups) accounted for in the conduct and analysis of the trial?

✔

✔

✔

✔

Overall appraisal

I

E

E

I