Table 2 Criteria for judging the strength of a subgroup claim
Criteria | Strong claim | Claim of a likely effect | Suggestion of a possible effect |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Did the investigators claim the effect in the abstract? | Yes | Possible | No |
2. Did the investigators claim the effect in the conclusion of abstract? | Possible* | No | No |
3. Did the investigators claim the effect in the discussion? | Yes | Possible | Yes |
4. Did the investigators use the descriptive words (e.g. appear/seem to be, may, and might) to soften their statements of the claims? | No | Possible | Possible |
5. Did the investigators used descriptive words (e.g. particular, and special) to strengthen the statement of the claims | Possible | No | No |
6. Were the authors obviously cautious about the apparent subgroup effect? (e.g. they stated the subgroup effect did not meet some of important criteria to believe a subgroup effect) | No | Some caution possible | Yes |
7. Did the investigators indicate the apparent effects need to be explored in the future studies (i.e. hypothesis generating)? | No | Possible say desirable to confirm | Yes |