Table 4 Main characteristics of included methodological reviews (n = 31)
Study | Country | Nomenclature (T/A) | Nomenclature (M) | Databases searched (#) | Records included (#) | Reference to a protocol (Y/N) | Search strategy reported (Y/N) | Justification of search time limits (Y/N) | Sample size calculation (Y/N) | Random sampling (Y/N) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abbade et al. [27] | Canada | SSu | SSu | 1 | 85 | Y | Y | Y | Y (61) | N |
Abdul-Khalek et al. [28] | Lebanon | SSu | None | 2 | 57 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Armijo-Olivo et al. [29] | Canada | MES | MES | 1 | 393 | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
Bolvig et al. [30] | Denmark | MES | None | 1 | 126 | Y | Y | N | N | N |
Chase Kruse and Matt Vassar [31] | USA | SSu | SSu | 2 | 35 | N | N | N | N | N |
Ebrahim et al. [32] | Canada | SR/SSu | None | 3 | 28 | Y | Y | N | N | N |
El Dib et al. [33] | Canada | SSu | None | 1 | 103 | N | Y | N | Y (100) | Y |
Ge et al. [34] | China | MES | MESc | 1 | 150 | N | Y | N | N | Y |
Gorne and Diaz [35] | Argentina | SR/SSu | LSu | 1 | 128 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Khan et al. [36] | Canada | SSu | SSu | 3 | 48 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Kosa et al. [37] | Canada | MR, SSu | MR | 1 | 200 | N | Y | Y | Y (152) | Y |
Kovic et al. [38] | Canada | MESu | MES, SR | 2 | 77 | N | Y | Y | N | N |
Kuriyama et al. [39] | Japan | LSu | None | 1 | 353 | N | N | Y | N | N |
Manja et al. [40] | Canada | SSu | None | 5 | 43 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Papageorgiou et al. [41] | Switzerland | MEE, MO, SR | SR | 8 | 34 | Y | Y | N | N | N |
Ratib et al. [42] | UK | MER | None | 1 | 1127 | N | N | N | N | N |
Riado Minguez et al. [43] | Spain | MES | None | 1 | 446 | N | Y | Y | Y (150) | N |
Sekercioglu et al. [44] | Canada | SSu | None | 5 | 16 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Shinohara et al. [45] | Japan | MEI, SR | None | 1 | 60 | Y | Y | N | N | N |
Sims et al. [46] | USA | MES | MES, Su | 1 | 37 | Y | N | N | N | N |
Storz-Pfennig [47] | Germany | MEA | None | 1 | 13 | N | N | N | N | N |
Tedesco et al. [48] | Italy | MEEE | None | 1 | 244 | N | N | N | N | N |
Tsujimoto et al. [49] | Japan | MES | None | 3 | 326 | N | N | Y | N | N |
Tsujimoto et al. [50] | Japan | MES | None | 1 | 284 | N | Y | Y | N | N |
Umberham et al. [51] | USA | MER | None | 2 | 265 | N | Y | N | N | N |
von Niederhausern et al. [52] | Switzerland | SSu | None | 2 | 47 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Wallach et al. [53] | USA | MESu | MESu | 3 | 64 | N | N | N | N | N |
Yepes-Nunez et al. [54] | Canada | SSu | None | 3 | 42 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Yu et al. [55] | Taiwan | LSu | LSu of SRs | 1 | 29 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Zhang et al. [56] | Canada | SSu | None | 4 | 60 | N | Y | N | N | N |
Zhang et al. [57] | Canada | SSu | None | 1 | 200 | N | Y | Y | Y (200) | Y |