Table 2 Study characteristics – quality assessment
From: Drug-resistant enteric fever worldwide, 1990 to 2018: a systematic review and meta-analysis
| Study quality characteristics | Number of studies (%) |
|---|---|
| Study designa | |
| Clinical trial | 16 (4.0) |
| Prospective | 155 (38.7) |
| Retrospective | 230 (57.4) |
| Sample size | |
| 10-29 | 63 (16.4) |
| 30-99 | 137 (35.7) |
| >100 | 184 (47.9) |
| Method of antimicrobial susceptibility testing | |
| Disk-diffusion | 183 (47.7) |
| Disk-diffusion & MIC determination | 98 (25.5) |
| Microdilution | 26 (6.8) |
| E-test | 9 (2.3) |
| Automated methodsb | 7 (1.8) |
| Multiple MIC determination methods | 6 (1.6) |
| Not stated | 55 (14.3) |
| Guidelines for antimicrobial susceptibility testingc | |
| BSAC/EUCAST | 11 (2.8) |
| CLSI/NCCLS | 200 (51.4) |
| Other | 12 (3.1) |
| Not stated | 166 (42.7) |
| Version of antimicrobial susceptibility testing guidelines stated | |
| Stated | 168 (43.8) |
| Not stated | 216 (56.3) |
| Internal quality control reported | |
| Yes | 122 (31.8) |
| No | 262 (68.2) |
| External quality assessment (EQA) participation reported | |
| International EQA | 5 (1.3) |
| National EQA | 2 (0.5) |
| Results confirmed by national or international surveillance laboratory | 23 (6) |
| Not stated | 354 (92.2) |