Increased Risk of Dementia in Patients with Antidepressants: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Table 2

Methodological quality assessment of the observational studies using the NOS.

(a)

Case-control study	Selection				Comparability	Exposure			Total
	Definition adequate	Representativeness of the cases	Selection of controls	Definition of controls	Control for important factor or additional factor	Ascertainment of exposure	Same method of ascertainment for cases and controls	Nonresponse rate	(0–9)
Wei-Sheng Lee-2017 [16]									8
Wei-Sheng Lee-2016 [17]									9

Note: a “star (^∗)” system of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) has been developed for the methodological quality assessment: each study can be awarded a maximum of one star for each numbered item within the selection and exposure categories, while a maximum of two stars can be given for the comparability category.

(b)

Cohort study	Selection				Comparability	Exposure			Total
	Selection of nonexposed cohort	Representativeness of the cohort	Ascertainment of exposure	Outcome of interest	Comparability of cohorts on the basis of the design or analysis	Assessment of outcome	Follow-up long enough for outcomes to occur	Adequacy of follow-up of cohorts	(0–9)
Wang 2016 [17]									7
Then 2017 [18]									9
Goveas 2012 [19]									6

Note: a “star (^∗)” system of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) has been developed for the methodological quality assessment: each study can be awarded a maximum of one star for each numbered item within the selection and exposure categories, while a maximum of two stars can be given for the comparability category.