Table 1

Study characteristics and methodological quality.
				Bleeding type / Menopausal status (%)

Study (Year published)	Details	Delay (hours)	Patient selection	Post	HRT	Pre	†Other	Reference standard	Blinding of results	Study quality level

IMMEDIATE VERIFICATION (</=24 HOURS) (16 studies)
Endometrial biopsy studies (8)
Sun-Kuie et al. [15] (1992)	Gynoscann^®	Day before	Unreported	*5 (11)	-	41 (89)	-	D&C	Unreported	I
Goldberg et al. [16] (1981)	Accurette^®	Immediate	Unreported	30 (100)	-		-	D&C	Unreported	II
Sonnendecker et al. [17] (1981)	Accurette^®	Immediate	Unreported	*6 (24)	-	17 (76)	-	D&C	Unreported	I
Kufahl et al. [18] (1997)	Explora^®	Immediate	Consecutive	*33 (21)	-	125 (79)	-	Hysterectomy	Unreported	I
Kufahl et al. [18] (1997)	Gynoscann^®	Immediate	Consecutive	*36 (21)	-	133 (79)	-	Hysterectomy	Unreported	I
Goldschmit et al. [19] (1993)	Pipelle^®	Immediate	Consecutive	*34 (23)	-	115 (77)	-	D&C	Yes	I
Kavak et al. [20] (1996)	Pipelle^®	Immediate	Unreported	*34 (56)	-	27 (44)	-	D&C	Yes	I
Goldberg et al. [16] (1981)	Vabra Aspirator^®	Immediate	Unreported	31 (100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Ultrasound scan studies (8)
Botsis et al. [21] (1992)	≤ 4 mm DL	Day before	Unreported	120(100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Garuti et al. [22] (1999)	≤ 4 mm DL	Immediate	Unreported	368 (88)	51 (12)	-	-	D&C	Unreported	I
Haller et al. [23](1996)	≤ 4 mm DL	Day before	Unreported	81 (100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Grigoriou et al. [24] (1996)	≤ 5 mm DL	Day before	Unreported	250(100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Karlsson et al. [25](1993)	≤ 5 mm DL	Day before	Unreported	103(100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Malinova et al. [26] (1996)	≤ 5 mm DL	Day before	Unreported	154(100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Wolman et al. [27] (1996)	≤ 5 mm DL	Immediate	Unreported	54 (100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Malinova et al. [28] (1995)	≤ 5 mm SL	Day before	Unreported	118(100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
DELAYED VERIFICATION (> 24 HOURS) (11 studies)
Endometrial biopsy studies (4)
Stovall et al. [29] (1989)	Novak Curette^®	Unreported	Unreported	-	-	-	165(100) NS	Hysterectomy	Unreported	II
Krampl et al. [3] (1997)	Pipelle^®	< 6 months	Unreported	37 (12)	-	247 (77)	35 (11)	TCRE/Hysterectomy	Unreported	I
Gupta et al. [30] (1996)	Pipelle^®	< 1 month	Unreported	54 (100)	-	-		D&C	Unreported	II
Stovall et al. [29] (1989)	Vabra Aspirator^®	Unreported	Unreported	-	-	-	62 (100) NS	Hysterectomy	Unreported	II
Ultrasound scan studies (7)
Guner et al. [31](1996)	≤ 4 mm DL	</= 7 days	Unreported	192(100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Abu-Ghazzeh et al. [32] (1999)	≤ 5 mm DL	1 week	Unreported	98 (100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
DeSilva et al. [33] (1997)	≤ 5 mm DL	< 4 weeks	Consecutive	44 (88)	6 (12)	-	-	D&C	Unreported	I
Gupta et al. [30] (1996)	≤ 5 mm DL	< 1 month	Unreported	75 (100)	-	-	-	D&C	Yes	I
Taviani et al. [34] (1995)	≤ 5 mm DL	1 week	Unreported	41 (100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Moreles et al. [35] (1998)	≤ 6 mm DL	< 3 weeks	Unreported	200(100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II
Mortakis et al. [36] (1997)	≤ 3 mm SL	< 4 weeks	Unreported	78 (100)	-	-	-	D&C	Unreported	II

*Numbers calculated from initial proportion of patients within these groups before missing outcome data was excluded. ^†Other refers to proportion of women included in the study who did not have abnormal uterine bleeding as an indication for investigation. HRT, hormone replacement therapy; NS, not specified (refers to proportion of women included in the study where the type of abnormal uterine bleeding was not specified); DB, directed biopsy; D&C, dilatation and curettage; TCRE, transcervical resection of the endometrium; DL, double layer endometrial thickness; SL, single layer endometrial thickness.
Clark et al. BMC Medicine 2004 2:18 doi:10.1186/1741-7015-2-18