Brassiere wearing and breast cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Table 1 United States Preventive Services Task Force Quality Rating Criteria (Case-Control study)

Criteria

Accurate ascertainment of cases

Nonbiased selection of cases/controls with exclusion criteria applied equally to both

Response rate

Diagnostic testing procedures applied equally to each group

Measurement of exposure accurate and applied equally to each group

Appropriate attention to potential confounding variable

Definition of ratings based on above criteria

Good: Appropriate ascertainment of cases and nonbiased selection of case and control participants; exclusion criteria applied equally to cases and controls; response rate equal to or greater than 80%; diagnostic procedures and measurements accurate and applied equally to cases and controls; and appropriate attention to confounding variables

Fair: Recent, relevant, without major apparent selection or diagnostic work-up bias but with response rate less than 80% or attention to some but not all important confounding variables

Poor: Major selection or diagnostic work-up biases, response rates less than 50%, or inattention to confounding variables