4.4.8.1 Study inclusion

This section should provide a narrative summary of the search results and selection process and results. The number of papers identified by the search strategy and the number of papers that were included and excluded should be stated.

A complete and accurate report should be provided regarding:

• the number of studies identified by the search in diverse sources;

• the number of studies excluded after the examination of title and abstract against inclusion criteria;

• the number of full text articles retrieved for examination;

• the number of studies excluded after full text examination against inclusion criteria;

• the number of critically appraised studies;

• the number of studies excluded after critical appraisal;

• the final total number of included studies.

A flowchart using the PRISMA template for the reporting of the selection process should be included.

Ideally, a list of all excluded studies, excluded after full text examination and after critical appraisal, with the explicit reasons for exclusion, should be provided in appendices to the review. As a minimum, at least the list of studies excluded after critical appraisal and the reasons for exclusion should be reported. If no studies were excluded after critical appraisal then the list of all studies excluded after full text examination including the explicit reasons for exclusion, should be provided in appendices to the review.