Assessment of study quality was performed separately by two authors (FHB and AVA), applying the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for cohort studies, and disagreements were resolved as above. The assessment categories were (1) selection of study groups, (2) comparability of groups, and (3) ascertainment of either the exposure (case-control studies) or outcome (cohort studies) of interest. These were rated from 0 to 3 stars as an indication of quality. This translated to a total of 0 to 9 stars per article.
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