The pathway and characteristics of patients with non-specific symptoms of cancer: a systematic review

BMC Cancer

Table 2 Quality assessment of included studies according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Socioeconomic, physical and mental factors as well as patient pathway are additionally included in the schedule for

Assesment	Donker [23]	Jørgensen [12]	Moseholm [24]	Moseholm [25, 26]	Næser [16, 17]	Ingeman [27]	Stenman [10]	Dolly [21]	Møller [28]	Chapman [29]
1. Representativeness of the exposed cohort	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
2. Selection of the non exposed cohort	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
3. Ascertainment of exposure	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
4. Demonstration that outcome of interest was not present at start of study	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
5. Comparability of cohorts on the basis of the design or analysis	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
6. Assessment of outcome	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
7. Was follow-up long enough for outcomes to occur	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
8. Adequacy of follow up of cohorts	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Stars summarized	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Quality: Low/medium/high	High	High	High	High	High	High	High	High	High	High
A. Socioeconomic characteristics	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
B. Mental characteristics	–	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
C. Physical characteristics	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
D. Patient Pathway	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+

ISSN: 1471-2407