Critical appraisal tools
The tools listed below will help identify the many ways that error and bias can distort research results.
These tools generally have a core set of questions around 'risk of bias'. Some tools also include other questions to address precision and external validity i.e. generalisability.
The recommended Cochrane risk of bias tools define internal validity as "risk of bias" and consider that to be the key concept when assessing if a study is valid.
Among the collection are a set of checklists that SURE have developed, please note that these have not been externally validated.
The Cochrane Collaboration advocate against the use of scales yielding a summary score.
- ROBIS: Tools to assess risk of bias in systematic reviews [Recommended]
- AMSTAR 2: a critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews that include randomised or nonrandomised studies of healthcare interventions, or both
- Critical appraisal skills programme (CASP) Systematic Review Checklist
- JBI Checklist for Systematic Reviews
- SURE Systematic Review Critical Appraisal Checklist
- Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (2.0) [Recommended]
- Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Randomised Controlled Trial Checklist
- JBI Checklist for Randomized Controlled Trials
- NHLBI Quality Assessment of Controlled Intervention Studies
- SIGN Randomised Controlled Trials Checklist
- SURE Experimental Studies Critical Appraisal Checklist
Cohort
- Cochrane ROBINS-I tool [Recommended]
- Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Cohort Study Checklist
- JBI Checklist for Cohort Studies
- NHLBI Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies
- SIGN Cohort Studies Checklist
- SURE Cohort Studies Critical Appraisal Checklist
Case controlled
- Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Case Control Study Checklist
- JBI Checklist for Case Control Studies
- NHLBI Quality Assessment of Case-Control Studies
- SIGN Case Control Studies Checklist
- SURE Case Control Studies Critical Appraisal Checklist
Cross-sectional
- JBI Checklist for Analytical Cross-sectional Studies
- NHLBI Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-sectional Studies
- SURE Cross-sectional Studies Critical Appraisal Checklist
Case series
- NICE public health guidance, Appendix E, Algorithm for classifying quantitative (experimental and observational) study designs
- Evidence-Based Answers to Clinical Questions for Busy Clinicians, pp. 24-25. The Centre for Clinical Effectiveness, Monash Institute of Health Services Research: Melbourne, Australia, 2006
- AHRQ study design algorithms
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