However, the decision has been made to have the follow up timing depend solely on the time interval since t0.
Different study designs, study populations and endpoints, duration of follow up, timing of cholesterol measurements, tumor stage and histological type, and differences in statistical adjustment for confounding variables may account for the disparity in the results of these studies.
However, recommendations regarding the timing of follow up and frequency of follow up reminders vary substantially in the literature [ 13].
Buchbinder et al. [ 2] especially criticize "a lack of uniformity in both the timing of follow up and the outcomes that were measured".
Instructions in the algorithm advise on the selection and timing of investigations, referral and follow up.
This variation in treatment and follow-up timing is typical of a standard UE orthopaedic practice.
Moreover, because up to 75% of breast cancer recurrences are detected by the patient and reported to the physician within a mean time of 1 month [ 27, 28], we can reliably consider the observed recurrence timing as widely independent of the planned follow-up timing.
Information was collected on the publication year, study period, setting, design, number of participants, selection and characteristics of participants, laboratory methods for determination of VRE infection status, characteristics and timing of interventions, duration of follow-up, timing and frequency of outcome measurements, and the reporting of other possible confounding variables.
In our recent study carried out on a group of 280 patients in our follow-up the average age was 69.5 demonstrating that the age must be carefully considered in order to establish the follow-up timing and modality and to calculate the cost-benefit ratio.
Due to differences in follow up assessment timings, data were analysed from the immediate post-intervention assessments.
External biases were categorized as biases related to the follow-up time ("timing bias"), the presented outcome ("outcome bias") and exposure measures ("exposure bias") and the study population ("population bias").
