Table 1 Quality Assessment Components and Ratings for EPHPP Instrument
Components | Strong | Moderate | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|
Selection bias | Very likely to be representative of target population; greater than 80% participation rate | Somewhat likely to be representative of target population; 60-79% participation rate | All other responses or not stated |
Design | Randomized Control Trial, Clinical Control Trial | Cohort analytic, case-control, cohort, or interrupted time series | All other designs or design not stated |
Confounders | Controlled for at least 80% of confounders | Controlled for 60-79% of confounders | Confounders not controlled for, or not stated |
Blinding | Blinding of outcome assessor & participants to intervention &/or research question | Blinding of either outcome assessor or participants | Outcome assessor & participants are aware of intervention &/or research question |
Data collection methods | Tools are valid & reliable | Tools are valid but reliability not described | No evidence of validity or reliability |
Withdrawals & dropouts | Follow-up rate of > 80% of participants | Follow-up rate of 60-79% of participants | Follow-up rate of < 60% of participants or withdrawals & dropouts not described |