Table 4 Criteria for the presence of sex-specific evidence relevant to clinical questions in primary research papers
From: Locating sex-specific evidence on clinical questions in MEDLINE: a search filter for use on OvidSP™
Statements in title or abstract concerning: |
Men (boys) |
Women (girls) |
Differences between the sexes |
(Evaluation of) Independent effect of sex/gender on the relationship under study |
(Evaluation of) Sex/gender as predictor for the outcome of the study |
(Evaluation of) Sex/gender as an effect modifier of the relationship under study |
When the above-mentioned statements in title or abstract are absent: |
Screening full text for statements regarding methods of analysis: |
Comparison between the sexes |
Comparison between groups of a single sex |
Stratification by sex or subgroup analysis by sex |
Evaluation of sex/gender as effect modifier |
Evaluation of the independent effect of sex/gender on the relationship under study |
Evaluation of sex/gender as an independent predictor for the study outcome |
Statements regarding methods must be followed by a report about the outcome of this particular analysis. |
Screening full text for statements regarding reporting of results: |
Presentation of separate risk estimates for men (boys) and women (girls) |
Presentation estimating the differences between (groups within) the sexes |
Outcome of a subgroup analysis by sex |