Type of study (comparator groups) | Study | Criteria of modified QUIPS tool | ||||
Study participation (population, exclusion criteria, comparison of baseline characteristics between comparator groups) | Study attrition (prospective or retrospective, data source, completeness of data on demographic/confounding factors, proportion of babies outcome analysis carried out on) | Prognostic factor measurement (definition of birth location, explanation of facilities available at different level units) | Outcome measurement (definition) | Study confounding (adjustment for confounding factors, which variables used) | ||
Inutero versus exutero transfer to NICU | Lamont et al28 | x | ✓ | x | x | x |
Truffert et al31 | x | ✓ | x | x | x | |
Hauspy et al32 | x | ✓ | x | x | x | |
Lee et al33 | x | ✓ | x | ✓ | ✓ | |
Boland et al13 | ✓ | ✓ | x | ✓ | x | |
Level of unit of birth (NICU vs non-NICU) | Holmgren and Högberg34 | x | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | x |
Johansson et al29 | x | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Level of unit of care (NICU vs non-NICU) | Field et al30 | x | x | x | x | x |
Jonas and Lumley35 | x | ✓ | x | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ denotes adequate quality, and x indicates inadequate quality.
NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; QUIPS, QUality In Prognostic Studies.