Appendix D
Tools and Methods to Evaluate the Risk of Bias in Individual Studies
Below are examples of tools and methods that were developed to measure the strength of various studies as well as the risk of bias in randomized trials, nonrandomized studies, diagnostic test accuracy, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, and case control studies. The table below has been adapted from the European Food Safety Authority’s 2017 report The Principles and Methods Behind EFSA’s Guidance on Uncertainty Analysis in Scientific Assessment.
Tool | Study Design or Applicable Setting | Institution | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Office of Health Assessment and Translation Risk of Bias (RoB) Tool | Experimental animal studies, human randomized controlled trial (RCT), human observational | National Toxicology Programme (NTP) | https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/ohat/pubs/riskofbiastool_508.pdf (accessed August 6, 2018) |
RoB 2.0 | Risk of bias in randomized trials | Cochrane collaboration | https://sites.google.com/site/riskofbiastool/welcome/rob-2-0-tool (accessed August 6, 2018) |
Tool | Study Design or Applicable Setting | Institution | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Robins-I | Risk of bias in nonrandomized studies of interventions | Cochrane collaboration | https://sites.google.com/site/riskofbiastool/welcome/home (accessed August 6, 2018) |
RoB Diagnostic Test Accuracy | Risk of bias in diagnostic test accuracy | Cochrane Canada | http://training.cochrane.org/resource/primer-cochrane-diagnostic-test-accuracy-reviews (accessed August 6, 2018) |
Tool to assess risk of bias in cohort studies | Risk of bias in cohort studies | CLARITY Group | https://www.evidencepartners.com/resources/methodological-resources (accessed August 6, 2018) |
Tool to assess risk of bias in randomized controlled trials | Risk of bias in RCT | CLARITY Group | https://www.evidencepartners.com/resources/methodological-resources (accessed August 6, 2018) |
Tool to assess risk of bias in case control studies | Risk of bias in case control studies | CLARITY Group | https://www.evidencepartners.com/resources/methodological-resources (accessed August 6, 2018) |
SOURCE: Adapted with permission from EFSA et al., 2018. |
REFERENCE
EFSA Scientific Committee, D. Benford, T. Halldorsson, M. J. Jeger, H. K. Knutsen, S. More, H. Naegeli, H. Noteborn, C. Ockleford, A. Ricci, G. Rychen, J. R. Schlatter, V. Silano, R. Solecki, D. Turck, M. Younes, P. Craig, A. Hart, N. Von Goetz, K. Koutsoumanis, A. Mortensen, B. Ossendorp, A. Germini, L. Martino, C. Merten, O. Mosbach-Schulz, A. Smith, and A. Hardy. 2018. Scientific opinion on the principles and methods behind EFSA’s Guidance on Uncertainty Analysis in Scientific Assessment. EFSA Journal 16(1):5122-5235.