Table 2

 Quality scores of the articles selected

ArticlesQuestionsOutcome
DefinitionDemographicsProspective design80% follow upWithdrawalsBlindingData presentationMultivariate analysis
Questions that could be answered with yes are “+”; those answered with no or unknown are “−”; “+” scores 1 and “–” scores 0.
na, not applicable.
Taunton et al, 200319++++––++6
Lun et al, 200412+++–+++–6
Satterthwaite et al, 199917++++––++6
Wen et al, 199821+++–++++7
Bennell et al, 19969++++–++–6
Macera et al, 199123++–+––++5
Macera et al, 198914+++–+–++6
Walter et al, 198920+++–+++–6
Jakobsen et al, 198922++––––+–3
Kretsch et al, 198411+–+–––+–3
Nicholl & Williams, 198215++++–++–6
Nicholl & Williams, 198225++–+–++–5
Steinacker et al, 200118–++––nanana2
Satterthwaite et al, 199616++++–nanana4
Bovens et al, 198910+++–+nanana4
Lysholm & Wiklander, 198713++++–nanana4
Maughan & Miller, 198324++–––nanana2