. 2023 Jun 27;6(6):e2320351. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.20351

Table 2. GRADE Summary of Findings for JAK Inhibitors vs Placebo Treatment for Alopecia Areata.

Outcome	Results and measurements	Absolute effect size estimates		Difference	Certainty of evidence	Plain language summary
Outcome	Results and measurements	Placebo	JAK inhibitors	Difference	Certainty of evidence	Plain language summary
SALT 30	OR, 40.71 (95% CI, 7.62-217.41); based on data from 142 patients in 1 study²¹	21 per 1000	466 per 1000	445 per 1000 (95% CI, 119 to 936 per 1000)	Very low^a	Whether JAK inhibitors were associated with a 30% improvement in SALT score remains uncertain
SALT 50	OR, 5.28 (95% CI, 1.69-16.46); based on data from 482 patients in 5 studies^{21,22,23,24,25}	71 per 1000	288 per 1000	217 per 1000 (95% CI, 43 to 568 per 1000)	Low^b	JAK inhibitors may be associated with 50% improvement in SALT score
SALT 90	OR, 8.15 (95% CI, 4.42-15.03); based on data from 1502 patients in 5 studies^21,22,25,26	13 per 1000	97 per 1000	84 per 1000 (95% CI, 42 to 591 per 1000)	Low^c	JAK inhibitors may be associated with 90% improvement in SALT score
SALT score ≤10	OR, 8.17 (95% CI, 4.42-15.08); based on data from 1282 patients in 3 studies^25,26	13 per 1000	97 per 1000	84 per 1000 (95% CI, 42 to 591 per 1000)	Low^c	JAK inhibitors may be associated with improvement in SALT score ≤10
SALT score ≤20	OR, 7.39 (95% CI, 4.82-11.33); based on data from 1431 patients in 4 studies^24,25,26	66 per 1000	343 per 1000	277 per 1000 (95% CI, 188 to 379 per 1000)	Moderate^d	JAK inhibitors probably were associated with improvement in SALT score ≤20
Treatment-related AE	RR, 1.25 (95% CI, 1.00-1.57); based on data from 1540 patients in 6 studies^{22,23,24,25,26}	461 per 1000	576 per 1000	115 per 1000 (95% CI, −0 to 263 per 1000)	High	JAK inhibitors were associated with little or no difference in treatment-related AE
Severe AE	RR, 0.77 (95% CI, 0.41-1.43); based on data from 1682 patients in 7 studies RCTs^{21,22,23,24,25,26}	26 per 1000	20 per 1000	−6 per 1000 (95% CI, −15 to 11 per 1000)	Moderate^d	JAK inhibitors probably were associated with little or no difference in severe AE
Discontinuation due to AE	RR, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.42-1.71); based on data from 1596 patients in 5 studies^21,22,24,25	26 per 1000	22 per 1000	−4 per 1000 (95% CI, −15 to 18 per 1000)	Moderate^d	JAK inhibitors probably were associated with little or no difference in discontinuation due to AE
Change from baseline of SALT scores	Scale: 0-100; lower score was better; based on data from 1455 patients in 5 studies^21,23,25,26	Mean, −4.3	Mean, −38.82	MD, −34.52 (95% CI, −37.80 to −31.24)	Moderate^e	JAK inhibitors probably were associated with increased change from baseline of SALT scores

Abbreviations: AA, alopecia areata; AE, adverse event; GRADE, Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations; JAK, Janus kinase; MD, mean difference; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risk; SALT, Severity of Alopecia Tool.

^{^a}

Downgraded 1 level for serious risk of bias due to incomplete data, and downgraded 3 levels for extremely serious imprecision due to data from 1 study and wide CIs.

^{^b}

Downgraded 1 level for serious inconsistency due to statistical heterogeneity (I² = 74%), and downgraded 1 level for serious imprecision due to wide CIs.

^{^c}

Downgraded 2 levels for very serious imprecision due to wide CIs.

^{^d}

Downgraded 1 level for serious imprecision due to wide CIs.

^{^e}

Downgraded 1 level for serious inconsistency due to statistical heterogeneity (I² = 96%).