Characteristics of studies tables

Each category of study (included, excluded, awaiting classification and ongoing) has a special table where you provide the attributes of the relevant studies.

In Intervention and Methodology reviews, each study also has a Risk of bias table.

Diagnostic reviews can also have a separate Assessment of methodological quality table.

In Diagnostic reviews using QUADAS-2, data entry for the two tables have been combined into one due to overlap between the expected content of the 'Characteristics of included studies' table and that of the description expected for each domain in the table. However, in the published review both tables are rendered separately. It is possible to preview the characteristics table.

To enter study characteristics

  1. Locate the table in the outline.

  2. Double-click the study for which you wish to enter the data.
    In the Text of review tab, the text cursor moves to the first field in the table

  3. Enter the characteristics.
    Tip:
    Use the Tab key to move to the next row; use Shift-Tab to move up one row.

User defined characteristics

The four tables have a predefined set of standard characteristics, but you can also add up to three user defined characteristics for each study category.

To add user defined characteristics:

  1. Open the table properties.
    Click the table in the outline, and the click the Properties button on the outline toolbar.

  2. Select up to three user defined characteristics.

  3. Enter a Heading for each characteristic.

  4. Click OK.

Ordering studies

Studies in the characteristics tables can be ordered in three ways:

To choose a sort order:

  1. Open the table properties.
    Click the table in the outline, and the click the Properties button on the outline tool bar.  

  2. Choose the order you want from the Sort By pull-down list.

  3. Click OK.

To specify a user-defined order:

  1. Click one of the studies you wish to reorder.

  2. Click the Move Up or Move Down buttons  in the outline toolbar to move the study.
    Note: these buttons are only active if you have set the table to user-defined order.

  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2, until the studies are in the desired order.