for the main comparison.

Clinical pathway compared with usual care for treatment of children with chronic cough
Patient or population: children with chronic cough of unknown origin lasting longer than 4 weeks Settings: paediatric hospital outpatient clinics Intervention: clinical pathway algorithm (clinical review within 2 weeks) Comparison: usual clinical care (clinical review at 6 weeks)
Outcomes	Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI)		Relative effect (95% CI)	No. of participants (studies)	Quality of the evidence (GRADE)	Comments
	Assumed risk	Corresponding risk
	Standard care group	Clincal pathway
Clinical failure—primary outcome (by intention‐to‐treat analysis) Follow‐up: 6 weeks	71 per 100	47 per 100 (34 to 59)	OR 0.35 (0.21 to 0.58)	272 (1 study)	⊕⊕⊕⊝ moderatea
PC‐QOL mean score at 6 weeks PC‐QOL is a 27‐item questionnaire. Each question has a 7‐point score ranging from 1 (worst quality of life) to 7 (best quality of life). Scores for each item were added and the average taken	5.01 (SD 1.63)	5.61 (5.2 to 6.02)	Mean difference between groups 0.60 (0.19 to 1.01) weeks	226 (1 study)	⊕⊕⊕⊝ moderatea
Duration of cough post randomisation	Mean duration of cough was 9.1 (SD 6.6) weeks	Mean duration of cough was 6.4 (4.84 to 7.96) weeks	Mean difference between groups ‐2.70 (‐4.26 to ‐1.14) weeks	226 (1 study)	⊕⊕⊕⊝ moderatea	Cough resolution was defined as total resolution of cough or ≥ 75% improvement in cough scores for ≥ 3 days
Proportion of adverse events experienced Follow‐up: 6 months	0 per 1000	0 per 1000	Not estimable	See comments	⊕⊕⊕⊝ moderatea	No adverse events were reported
Proportions of participants experiencing adverse events or complications Follow‐up: 6 months	0 per 1000	0 per 1000	Not estimable	See comments	⊕⊕⊕⊝ moderatea	No adverse events were reported
*The basis for the assumed risk was the mean control group risk in the included study. The corresponding risk (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: Confidence interval; OR; Odds ratio; PC‐QOL: Parent‐reported cough‐specific quality of life questionnaire; RR: Risk ratio; SD: Standard deviation.
GRADE Working Group grades of evidence. High quality: Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect. Moderate quality: Further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate. Low quality: Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate. Very low quality: We are very uncertain about the estimate.

^aA single study was identified, and complete blinding was not possible for this type of intervention.