Evidence Synthesis: Risk of Bias Assessment

Risk of bias, also known as quality assessment or critical appraisal is an integral part of most types of evidence syntheses. Each study included in the review is assessed for bias.  

Not sure what type of quality assessment to choose? Try:

robvis is a web app aids researchers in creating a 'traffic light' table reflecting risk of bias results from using RoB 2, ROBINS-I, or QUADAS-2. Don't forget to cite the visualization tool. 

GRADE aids researchers a structure for presenting evidence in systematic reviews.

Cochrane Bias Methods Group. Reading List. Nov. 2024.

Tomlinson E, Cooper C, Davenport C, Rutjes AWS, Leeflang M, Mallett S, Whiting P. Common challenges and suggestions for risk of bias tool development: a systematic review of methodological studies. J Clin Epidemiol.  2024;171:111370. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2024.111370

Cochrane Bias Methods Group. Chapter 7: Considering bias and conflicts of interest among the included studies. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. 2nd Edition. Chichester (UK): John Wiley & Sons, 2019.

Higgins JPT, Savović J, Page MJ, Elbers RG, Sterne JAC. Chapter 8: Assessing risk of bias in a randomized trial. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. 2nd Edition. Chichester (UK): John Wiley & Sons, 2019.