Data for individual studies were reported, and pooled data were analyzed if appropriate.
Statistical analysis models for individual studies included the fixed effects of treatment and random effects of block and block-by-treatment interaction; additional effects were included as appropriate.
Specifically, our analysis reveals limited use of validity and reliability tests, a blurring of conventional and policy Delphi rationales, diverse data collection and analysis techniques, and mixed quality when reporting the approach, format, and results for individual studies.
Publication bias has been extensively examined for individual studies (e.g., randomized trials) [4], [6] [11], but is under-explored for systematic reviews [12] [14].
Results were presented in forest plots, where the sizes of the boxes for individual studies are inversely proportional to the variances of the log relative risks, and the horizontal lines represent 95% CIs.
For individual studies see Table 1.
Risk of bias assessment for individual studies.
Outcomes for individual studies are included in the supplementary material.
Results for individual studies are available in Additional file 5.
Funding details for individual studies is provided in supplementary information.
All methods allowed for explicit adjustment for individual studies.
