MWU Library: Evidence Synthesis: Eligibility Criteria

What is Eligibility Criteria?

What are the characteristics a study must have in order to be included in your review?

Eligibility criteria also known as inclusion and exclusion criteria provide the boundaries of your review. Examples may include:

Exclusion criteria must be justified.

Not all criteria will be accounted for in your search strategy. Some criteria may only come into play during the screening process.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
Chapter 3: Defining the criteria for including studies and how they will be grouped for the synthesis

Types of Criteria	Inclusion Criteria	Exclusion Criteria
Population of interest Group identities (age, sex, gender, race, ethnicity, etc.) Disease, condition, or exposure of interest Other participant information (risk factors, patient history, functional status, etc.)
Intervention - Surgical, medical, device, modality, education, etc.
Phenomenon of interest - Comparators
Type of study Experimental or descriptive study design (controlled clinical trials, observational studies, qualitative research, etc.) Study characteristics (e.g., randomization, blinding, tests or measures, etc.) Outcome measures (subjective, objective, PROs, clinical response, etc.)
Place - Practice setting, location, geographic region, etc.
Provider - Education, training, specialties, etc.
Publication information Publication date Peer-review Language