Review Article
Feasibility of Muscle Synergy Outcomes in Clinics, Robotics, and Sports: A Systematic Review
Table 1
Criteria for quality assessment of internal validity (IV), statistical validity (SV), and external validity (EV).
| Criteria | Possible outcomes |
| Aim of the work | (1) Description of a specific, clearly stated purpose (IV) | +/− | (2) The research question is scientifically relevant (EV) | +/− | Inclusion criteria (selection bias) | (3) Description of inclusion and exclusion criteria (IV-EV) | +/− | (4) Inclusion and exclusion criteria are the same for all tested groups (IV) | +/− | (5) Inclusion and exclusion criteria reflect the general population (EV) | +/− | Data collection (performance bias) | (6) Data collection is clearly described and reliable (IV-EV) | +/− | (7) Same data collection method used for all the subjects (IV) | +/− | (8) Data collection reflects the usual methodology in the field (EV) | +/− | Data loss (attrition bias) | (9) Different data loss between groups (IV) | +/− | (10) Data (EV) | +/− | Outcome (detection bias) | (11) Outcomes are topic-relevant (EV) | +/− | (12) Outcomes are the same for all the subjects (IV) | +/− | Data presentation | | (13) Frequencies of most important outcome measures (IV) | +/− | (14) Presentation of the data is sufficient to assess the adequacy of the analysis (IV) | +/− | Statistical approach | (15) Appropriate statistical analysis techniques (SV) | +/− | (16) Clearly state the statistical test used (SV) | +/− | (17) State and reference the analytical software used (SV) | +/− | (18) Sufficient number of subjects (SV) | +/− |
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