|
| Quality assessment (QA) variable | Quality assessment criteria |
| Low | Moderate | High |
|
| Representativeness of exposed cohort | Selected group of users (e.g., nurses, volunteers) | Somewhat representative of the average obese pregnant woman in the community | Truly representative of the average obese pregnant woman in the community |
|
| Source of nonexposed cohort | Drawn from a different source than exposed cohort | N/A | Drawn from the same source as the exposed cohort |
|
| Ascertainment of exposure (obesity) | Self-report height and weight | Self-report height or weight | Measured height and weight |
|
| Comparability of cohorts | Comparable for less than 3 of the variables assessed | Comparable for 3 or 4 of the variables assessed | Comparable for at least 5 of the variables assessed |
|
| Adequacy of follow-up | Loss to follow-up rate >5% or no description of those lost | Subjects lost to follow-up unlikely to introduce bias (<5% loss to follow-up and description of those lost) | All subjects accounted for |
|
| Overall rating | Majority of QA variables rated as high, including ascertainment of exposure | Some QA variables rated as high, obesity self-reported | Few QA variables rated as high, obesity self-reported |
|
