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Table 2 Quality Assessment of Studies

From: The use of complementary and alternative medicine by people with cardiovascular disease: a systematic review

QAT Item

Brief Definition

Points Awarded

Frequency of studies % (n)

Reference

STUDY METHODS

                        Low risk

Prospective/current data collection

2

11 (3)

[9]‐[11]

                        Some risk

Retrospective data collection <12 months

1

78 (21)

[12]‐[32]

Piloted questionnaire (or interview schedule)

Any pilot or previous use of study material

1

26 (7)

[13, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 31]

Address potential sources of bias

Report efforts to address nonresponsive bias or information bias

1

7 (2)

[11, 29]

Adjust for potential confounders

Any adjustment of confounders in analyses of variables associated with CAM use

1

44 (12)

[9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 22]‐[24, 26, 32]‐[34]

SAMPLING

Response rate

Where response rate = (no. of participants in the study/No of people invited to take part) x 100

1

48 (13)

[9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17]‐[19, 21, 26, 29, 32, 34]

Representative sampling strategy

Any attempt to a representative sample of the larger population

1

26 (7)

[9, 11, 12, 23]‐[25, 30]

PARTICIPANT’S CHARACTERISTICS

Specific diagnosis

Report participants’ diagnoses

1

100 (27)

All studies

Indicator of socioeconomic status

Report participants’ socioeconomic status

0.5

67 (18)

[9, 12]‐[16, 18, 19, 22]‐[24, 28, 30]‐[33, 35]

Age

Report participants’ ages

0.5

100 (27)

All studies

Ethnicity

Report participants’ ethnicity

0.5

56 (15)

[10, 12, 14, 16, 19, 22]‐[24, 26, 30]‐[35]

Gender

Report participants’ gender

0.5

100 (27)

All studies

CAM USAGE

CAM definition

Information about the definition of CAM/a list of CAM modalities provided to participants

2

74 (20)

[9, 11]‐[20, 22]‐[25, 27, 29]‐[33, 35]

Use of CAM modalities assessed

Report the prevalence of use of specific CAM modalities

1

100 (27)

All studies

Frequency/duration of CAM uses

Report how often or for what duration the CAM were/are used by study participants

1

19 (5)

[24, 25, 28, 30, 32]

Reasons for CAM use

Report the reasons for the use of CAM by study participants

2

56 (15)

[9, 12, 15]‐[18, 22, 23, 26, 28, 30, 31, 34, 35]