A systematic review of the content of critical appraisal tools

Table 3 The type and number of guidelines accompanying critical appraisal tools per study design

Type of critical appraisal tool	Type of guideline					Total number of critical appraisal tools
	Handbook/published paper		Accompanying explanation		Total
	Number of tools	References	Number of tools	References
Systematic reviews	9	[2,4,15,20,25,28,29,331,36,116]	3	[16,26,27]	12	26
Experimental studies	10	[2,4,25,37,41,50,64-66,69]	6	[26,40,49,51,57,59]	16	45
Diagnostic studies	3	[74,75,76]	1	[79]	4	7
Observational studies	9	[2,25,66,80,84-87]	1	[83]	10	19
Qualitative studies	4	[9,87,89,90]	1	[26]	5	7
Experimental & Observational studies	2	[9,95]	1	[91]	3	6
All study designs	1	[100]	1	[102]	2	10
Total	38		14		52	120