MMAT: How to Complete Your Assessment

MMAT lets you assess the methodological quality of studies across five different designs. This article covers how to select your tool and category, answer the questions, and record your overall judgment. For a general overview of all available tools and how to add articles, see How to Assess Risk of Bias in Rayyan.

Select MMAT and your category

In the Risk of Bias assessment table, open the Tool dropdown for the article and choose MMAT. A submenu opens with five categories, one for each study design. Select the one that matches your study before answering any questions. Each study can only be assigned one category.

Answer the questions

Each category has five questions. All questions are required. For each one, select one of the following answers:

• Yes
• No
• Can't tell

You can add an optional note to any question. As you answer, the system automatically calculates a percentage score based on the number of "Yes" answers out of the total. For example, four "Yes" answers out of five gives a score of 80%. This score is displayed as a reference only and is clearly labeled as auto-calculated. It updates automatically if you change any answer.

Questions by category

1. Qualitative

• 1.1 Is the qualitative approach appropriate to answer the research question?
• 1.2 Are the qualitative data collection methods adequate to address the research question?
• 1.3 Are the findings adequately derived from the data?
• 1.4 Is the interpretation of results sufficiently substantiated by data?
• 1.5 Is there coherence between qualitative data sources, collection, analysis and interpretation?

2. Quantitative RCT

• 2.1 Is randomization appropriately performed?
• 2.2 Are the groups comparable at baseline?
• 2.3 Are there complete outcome data?
• 2.4 Are outcome assessors blinded to the intervention provided?
• 2.5 Did the participants adhere to the assigned intervention?

3. Quantitative Non-Randomized

• 3.1 Are the participants representative of the target population?
• 3.2 Are measurements appropriate regarding both the outcome and intervention (or exposure)?
• 3.3 Are there complete outcome data?
• 3.4 Are the confounders accounted for in the design and analysis?
• 3.5 During the study period, is the intervention administered (or exposure occurred) as intended?

4. Quantitative Descriptive

• 4.1 Is the sampling strategy relevant to address the research question?
• 4.2 Is the sample representative of the target population?
• 4.3 Are the measurements appropriate?
• 4.4 Is the risk of nonresponse bias low?
• 4.5 Is the statistical analysis appropriate to answer the research question?

5. Mixed Methods

• 5.1 Is there an adequate rationale for using a mixed methods design to address the research question?
• 5.2 Are the different components of the study effectively integrated to answer the research question?
• 5.3 Are the outputs of the integration of qualitative and quantitative components adequately interpreted?
• 5.4 Are divergences and inconsistencies between quantitative and qualitative results adequately addressed?
• 5.5 Do the different components of the study adhere to the quality criteria of each tradition of the methods involved?

Record your overall judgment

After answering all the questions, you need to provide an overall quality judgment. This is a manual step and is separate from the auto-calculated percentage score. Select one of the following options:

• Low
• Some Concerns
• High
• No Overall Judgment

You can also write a free-text justification to explain your judgment. This field is optional, but it is good practice to use it. Mark as Completed only becomes available once all five questions are answered and an overall judgment is selected.

Like RoB 2, the MMAT form is fixed, so you cannot add, remove, or reword its questions.