Table 2 Summary of items extracted as part of the review

Study characteristics

\(\bullet\) Title

\(\bullet\) First author name(s)

\(\bullet\) Publication year

\(\bullet\) Funding source

\(\bullet\) Journal

\(\bullet\) Trial type

Subject matter

\(\bullet\) Medical condition studied

\(\bullet\) Medical specialty studied

\(\bullet\) Number of study participants included in the analysis (largest if multiple analyses)

Design

\(\bullet\) Setting

\(\bullet\) Ordinal outcome type

\(\bullet\) Number of categories in the outcome

\(\bullet\) Whether the ordinal outcome was measured at a single time point or as a measure of change

\(\bullet\) Whether the categories of the ordinal scale were clearly defined, ordered, mutually exclusive and, if a measure of change, symmetrical

\(\bullet\) Whether the ordinal outcome was a primary or secondary outcome

\(\bullet\) Whether sample size determination was used based off the ordinal outcome

\(\bullet\) Target parameter used

Statistical methods

\(\bullet\) The statistical model(s) or method(s) that were used to analyse the ordinal outcome

\(\bullet\) Type of inference used (frequentist/Bayesian)

\(\bullet\) How the distribution of the ordinal outcome was summarised by intervention

\(\bullet\) Methods used to account for repeated measures over time (if applicable)

\(\bullet\) Details on whether the model assumptions were reported

\(\bullet\) Whether the analysis that was reported in the results differed from the analysis outlined in the methods section of the manuscript

Software included

\(\bullet\) Statistical software package used for the analysis