Table S1. Data-collection grid to extract information from each article
Section
Article reference
Variable Name
ID
Information
Unique index specific of the article
Source
From which study subset
Authors
Title
Journal
Full names and initials
Title of the article
Title of the journal
Year
Volume
Publication year of the article
Volume in which the article was
published
Issue in which the article was published
The article’s first and last page numbers
in the journal
Date of reception of the first manuscript
submission
Number
Number
a_date
Date of manuscript acceptance
Date format: dd/mm/yyyy
e_date
Date of the online publication
Date format: dd/mm/yyyy
p_date
Date of the print publication
Date format: dd/mm/yyyy
Issue
Pages
r_date
Format Specification
Incremental integer automatically
generated by the database system
Dropdown menu list:
Hong Kong subset
Toronto subset
Combined subset
Text
Text
Journal full or abbreviated name
according to either the Medline or Web
of Science format
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Text
Text
Date format: dd/mm/yyyy
Comment
e.g., 1, 2, 3, …, 311
e.g., Lee, T. S.
Full title
Medline format (e.g., Emerg
Infect Dis); Web of Science
format (e.g., Emerging
Infectious Diseases)
e.g., 352–58
Only entered when
mentioned in the article or
the Medline database
Only entered when
mentioned in the article or
the Medline database
Only entered when
mentioned in the article or
the Medline database
Only entered when
mentioned in the article or in
the Medline database
Table S1. (Continued)
Section
Classification of
the study
Variable Name
Type
Information
Study type
Domain
Main research domain of the study
Setting
Study setting
Design
Format Specification
Dropdown menu list:
Descriptive epidemiology
Analytic epidemiology
Theoretical epidemiology
Experimental epidemiology
Dropdown menu list:
Description of the outbreak
Search for causative agent
Transmission
Risk factors
Clinical presentations
Diagnostic assays
Treatments and medical interventions
Prognosis
Medical decision-making
Prevention and control measures
Psychobehavioral investigation
Dropdown menu list:
Hospital
Community
Both
Dropdown menu list:
Cross-sectional study
Descriptive cohort study (longitudinal
study)
Prospective cohort study
Historical cohort study
Case–control study
Intervention trial
Clinical trial
Mathematical modeling study
Molecular study
Diagnostic study
Epidemiological study design
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Comment
Hospital study refers to those
conducted in any medical
setting (e.g., hospital, clinic)
Table S1. (Continued)
Section
Characteristics of
the study
population
Variable Name
Population
Information
Type of population
Format Specification
Check boxes:
Definition
Definition criteria of the SARS cases
Location
Population recruitment location
Sample_size
ss_init
Sample size of the study
Initial sample size of the study
SARS patients
General population
Healthcare workers (non SARS)
Othera
Check boxes:
WHO SARS-case definition
CDC SARS-case definition
Othera
Not specified
Check boxes:
Hospital
Place of work
Place of residence
Othera
Not specified
Number
Number
ss_fin
Final sample size of the study
Number
data_coll
Type of data collection
Check boxes:
Questionnaire
Biological specimen collection
Physical examination(s)
Environmental sample
Hospital, medical or exposure records
Secondary data
Othera
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Comment
Only entered when
applicable, depending on
study design
Only entered when
applicable, depending on
study design
Secondary data refer to
analyses of data that had
been collected and used in a
previous study.
Table S1. (Continued)
Section
Characteristics of
the study data
Variable Name
dc_start
Information
First date of data collection
Format Specification
Date format: dd/mm/yyyy
dc_end
Quality
Last date of data collection
Procedures used to guarantee the
quality of data
Description of the statistical or
mathematical methods used in the study
Software used for data management
Software used for data analysis
Date format: dd/mm/yyyy
Text
Analysis
sft_dm
sft_da
aIn
bIn
Comment
e.g., double data entry, data
checking procedure(s)
Yesb/not specified/not applicable
Yesb/not specified
Yesb/not specified/not applicable
such a case, a dependent variable is entered (text format) to specify the meaning of “other”.
such a case, a dependent variable is entered through an incremental group of checked boxes to indicate the method(s) or the software used.
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