Table 3.

Sensitivity and subgroup analyses for clinical failures recorded in trials comparing newer, more expensive antibiotics with amoxycillin or folate inhibitors for treating uncomplicated acute sinusitis

Subgroups of trials	Other antibiotics v amoxycillin			Other antibiotics v folate inhibitors
	No of trials (patients)	Risk ratio (95% CI)*		No of trials (patients)	Risk ratio (95% CI)*
Patients:
Children	2 (108)	1.24 (0.54 to 2.84)		0	not applicable
Adults	11 (1445)	0.80 (0.56 to 1.14)		9 (410)	1.01 (0.52 to 1.97)
Antibiotics used in comparison:
Tetracyclines	1 (47)	3.39 (0.15 to 79.2)		5 (148)	1.17 (0.32 to 4.23)
All others	12 (1506)	0.87 (0.63 to 1.20)		4 (262)	1.03 (0.35 to 3.00)
Resistant pathogens excluded:
Yes	3 (176)	1.00 (0.37 to 2.72)		1 (45)	3.41 (0.15 to 79.5)
No	10 (1377)	0.84 (0.60 to 1.19)		8 (365)	0.96 (0.48 to 1.95)
Diagnosis of sinusitis:
Subjective	4 (543)	0.89 (0.46 to 1.71)		8 (379)	0.99 (0.47 to 2.08)
Firm	9 (1010)	0.88 (0.60 to 1.28)		1 (31)	1.65 (0.17 to 16.3)
Assessment of outcomes:
Unclear	3 (468)	0.88 (0.50 to 1.55)		4 (131)	1.18 (0.44 to 3.13)
Specified	10 (1085)	0.85 (0.57 to 1.26)		5 (279)	1.05 (0.35 to 3.10)
Blinding:
Unblinded or single blind	8 (821)	0.89 (0.53 to 1.50)		7 (365)	0.99 (0.44 to 2.23)
Double blind	5 (732)	0.84 (0.55 to 1.27)		2 (45)	1.54 (0.22 to 11.0)
Publication date:
1983-91	7 (640)	1.00 (0.57 to 1.75)		4 (189)	0.71 (0.28 to 1.81)
1993-8	6 (913)	0.82 (0.55 to 1.23)		5 (221)	1.77 (0.79 to 3.96)
Jadad quality score:
<3	6 (539)	0.85 (0.49 to 1.48)		7(365)	0.99 (0.44 to 2.23)
⩾3	7 (1014)	0.86 (0.58 to 1.28)		2 (45)	1.54 (0.22 to 11.0)

^*Risk ratios <1 mean that other antibiotics were better than the reference drugs (amoxycillin or folate inhibitors). There was no significant heterogeneity between subgroups for any of the sensitivity analyses (P>0.1).