Quality assessment items | Brief description | Points awarded | Percentage/frequency of studies % (n) | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Study methods | |||||
 Recall bias | Low risk | Prospective data collection | 2 | - | - |
Some risk | Retrospective data collection within previous 12Â months | 1 | 33.3 (6) | ||
High risk | Retrospective data collection not within previous 12Â months | 0 | 66.7 (12) | ||
 Piloted questionnaire (or interview schedule) | Any pilot, feasibility, pretest, or previous use of study materials | 1 | 61.1 (11) | ||
 Address potential sources of bias | Report efforts to address nonresponsive bias or information bias | 1 | 16.7 (3) | ||
 Adjust for potential confounders | Any adjustment of confounders in analyses of variables associated with TM use | 1 | 27.8 (5) | ||
Sampling | |||||
 Response rate | Where response rate = (number of participants in the study/number of people invited to take part) × 100 | 1 | 44.4 (8) | ||
 Representative sampling strategy | Any attempt to achieve a sample of participants that represents the larger population from which they were drawn (but cannot be a single center sample) | 1 | 16.7 (3) | ||
Participant characteristics | |||||
 Specific diagnosis | Report participants’ diagnoses | 1 | 22.2 (4) | ||
 Indicator of socioeconomic status | Report participants’ socioeconomic status | 0.5 | 83.3 (15) | ||
 Age | Report participants’ ages | 0.5 | 88.9 (16) | ||
 Ethnicity | Report participants’ ethnicity | 0.5 | 27.8 (5) | ||
 Gender | Report participants’ gender | 0.5 | 100 (18) | ||
TM use | |||||
 TM definition | Information about the definition of TM/a list of TM modalities provided to participants | 2 | 27.8 (5) | ||
 Use of TM modalities assessed | Report the prevalence of use of specific TM modalities | 1 | 88.9 (16) | ||
 Frequency/duration of TM uses | Report how often or for what duration the TM were/are used by study participants | 1 | 11.1 (3) | ||
 Reasons for TM use | Report the reasons for the use of TM by study participants | 2 | 61.1 (11) |