Table 1 Study inclusion and exclusion criteria

Meets the pre-determined case definitions of major depression and IHD

Cross-sectional study design

Longitudinal case–control or cohort study design

Clinical samples, for example, studies using hospital data

Sampling is from the general population

Demographic characteristics of sample represent populations at risk

Estimate of risk and associated uncertainty/error is reported, or sufficient data is reported to allow calculations of these

Where multiple papers draw on the same sample, the most comprehensive or recent publication is preferred

Subjects with clinical manifestations of IHD at baseline should be excluded or, at the very least, controlled or stratified for in the analysis