1. Case definition |
2 = Operational definition of cases/controls including exclusion criteria |
1 = Operational definition of cases/controls but no exclusion criteria |
0 = No explicit definition of cases or can’t tell |
|
2. Patient selection |
2 = Inception cohort, defined in relation to time of primary joint replacement or revision |
1 = Mixed cohort, including a subset of the sample followed from time of primary joint replacement or revision |
0 = Mixed cohort, unable to define subsets within the cohort or can’t tell |
|
3. Follow-up |
2 = Complete follow-up; > 90% of all participants accounted for |
1 = < 90% follow-up with description provided of participants lost to follow-up |
0 = < 90% follow-up with no description of those lost to follow-up |
|
4. Outcome |
2 = Blinded outcome appropriate to the research question with potential for replicability of at least 1 outcome or valid/reliable self-report measure |
1 = Outcome appropriate to the research question with description of how outcome was assessed |
0 = Outcome appropriate to the research question but no description of how outcome was assessed |
|
5. Analysis |
3 = Adjusted proportions provided (e.g., by use of Mantel–Haenzel) or appropriate multivariate techniques used to adjust for any prognostic factor |
2 = Crude proportions but data stratified or presented in a manner that would allow for analysis of subsets |
1 = Crude proportions for at least 1 outcome |
0 = Description of sample only, unclear about statistical methods used or can’t tell |
|
6. Database (for database studies only) |
2 = Any attempt to assess data quality (i.e., double data entry, some reabstraction of primary data, or other quality checks) |
1 = No attempt to assess data quality |
|
7. Total score |
_________/ 11 (question 6 omitted) |
_________/ 13 (question 6 included) |