Systematic Reviews in the Health Sciences

• Use a standardized tool to evaluate study quality (e.g., Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool, ROBINS-I). Here are some RoB assessment tools:

For Randomized Controlled Trials:

• RoB 2 tool. The current version (22 August 2019), suitable for individually-randomized, parallel-group trials.

For Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions:

• ROBINS-I - https://methods.cochrane.org/robins-i (for non-randomized studies of the effects of interventions)
• Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) - https://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.asp, “developed to assess the quality of nonrandomised studies with its design, content and ease of use directed to the task of incorporating the quality assessments in the interpretation of meta-analytic results.” 

For Mixed Methods

• MMAT (Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool), version 2018 User Guide - http://mixedmethodsappraisaltoolpublic.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/127916259/MMAT_2018_criteria-manual_2018-08-01_ENG.pdf 

For Observational Studies

• ROBINS-E - https://www.riskofbias.info/welcome/robins-e-tool (for non-randomized studies of exposures)

• Collections of Tools
  • JBI Critical Appraisal Tools - https://jbi.global/critical-appraisal-tools
  • Study Quality Assessment Tools - a collection of assessment tools by NHLBI, NIH - https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/study-quality-assessment-tools
  • Use Systematic Review Toolbox (a searchable online database of tools to support systematic reviews) https://systematicreviewtools.com/ to find a tool of your choice.

• Report the risk of bias for transparency.