Table 1.
Characteristics of 50 reviews of treatment of asthma
| No of reviews | |
|---|---|
| Sources of funding* | |
| Government agencies | 15 |
| Industry | 6 |
| Charities | 2 |
| Consumer groups | 1 |
| Professional organisations | 1 |
| Not reported | 27 |
| Country of corresponding author | |
| United States | 17 |
| Canada | 10 |
| United Kingdom | 8 |
| Australia | 4 |
| Netherlands | 3 |
| Belgium | 2 |
| Germany | 2 |
| Others | 3 |
| Not reported | 1 |
| Sources of studies used* | |
| Medline | 33 |
| Reference lists | 27 |
| Corresponding authors | 14 |
| Journal handsearching | 12 |
| Interventions evaluated | |
| Steroids (inhaled or systemic) | 16 |
| β agonists | 16 |
| Xanthines | 6 |
| Antileukotrienes | 5 |
| Complementary therapies | 3 |
| Immunotherapy | 2 |
| Placebo | 27 |
| Other | 24 |
| Outcomes evaluated* | |
| Forced expiratory volume | 41 |
| Peak expiratory flow | 39 |
| Rescue treatment | 22 |
| Hospital admissions | 13 |
| Quality of life | 13 |
| Cost | 4 |
| Patient preferences | 3 |
| Data synthesis | |
| Meta-analysis | 27 |
| Qualitative review | 15 |
| Unclear | 8 |
*
More than one category was possible.