Fig. 4.

Updated meta-analyses of studies assessing the effects of prophylactic antibiotics or antipyretic drugs on functional outcome after stroke. Unfavourable outcome is defined as a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 3 through 6. An odds ratio (OR) <1.0 indicates a positive effect of treatment. The ORs are unadjusted. (A) Ten out of 15 trials have been included in the meta-analysis, because no score on the mRS at three months was available for five trials. (B) Dippel 2001a and 2001b refer to two intervention groups in one study; the numbers in the control group have been divided by two to avoid multiple comparisons of the same patients. CI, confidence interval.