Table 1.
GRADE evaluation of interventions for angina (chronic stable)
| Important outcomes | Symptom improvement, mortality, quality of life | ||||||||
| Number of studies (participants) | Outcome | Comparison | Type of evidence | Quality | Consistency | Directness | Effect size | GRADE | Comment |
| What are the effects of long-term single-drug treatment for stable angina? | |||||||||
| 1 (112) | Symptom improvement | Beta-blockers v placebo | 4 | –2 | 0 | –1 | 0 | Very low | Quality points deducted for sparse data and incomplete reporting of results. Directness point deducted for no statistical comparison between groups for one outcome |
| 5 (1542) . | Symptom improvement | Beta-blockers v calcium channel blockers | 4 | –2 | 0 | –1 | 0 | Very low | Quality point deducted for incomplete reporting and high rate of withdrawals in 1 RCT. Directness point deducted for composite outcome in 2 RCTs |
| 1 (809) | Mortality | Beta-blockers v calcium channel blockers | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | High | |
| 1 (809) | Quality of life | Beta-blockers v calcium channel blockers | 4 | –1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moderate | Quality point deducted for incomplete reporting of results |
| 1 (112) | Symptom improvement | Calcium channel blockers v placebo | 4 | –2 | 0 | –1 | 0 | Very low | Quality points deducted for sparse data and incomplete reporting of results. Directness point deducted for no statistical comparison between groups for one outcome |
| 1 (196) | Symptom improvement | Calcium channel blockers v nitrates | 4 | –2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Low | Quality points deducted for sparse data and incomplete reporting of results |
| 1 (196) | Quality of life | Calcium channel blockers v nitrates | 4 | –2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Low | Quality points deducted for sparse data and incomplete reporting of results |
| What are the effects of long-term combination drug treatment for stable angina? | |||||||||
| 1 (450) | Symptom improvement | Beta-blockers plus calcium channel blockers v beta-blockers alone | 4 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 | Low | Directness points deducted for use of composite outcome and limited outcomes reported |
| 1 (456) | Symptom improvement | Calcium channel blockers plus beta-blockers v calcium channel blockers alone | 4 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 | Low | Directness points deducted for use of composite outcome and limited outcomes reported |
| What are the effects of long-term adjunctive treatment in people with stable angina? | |||||||||
| 1 (7665) | Symptom improvement | Calcium channel blockers in addition to existing anti-anginal drug treatment v adding placebo to existing anti-anginal drug treatment | 4 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 | Moderate | Directness point deducted for use of compositie outcome |
| 1 (7665) | Mortality | Calcium channel blockers in addition to existinganti-anginal drug treatment v adding placebo to existing anti-anginal drug treatment | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | High | |
| 1(5126) | Symptom improvement | Potassium channel openers in addition to existing anti-anginal drug treatment v adding placebo to existing anti-anginal drug treatment | 4 | –1 | 0 | –1 | 0 | Low | Quality point deducted for incomplete reporting of results. Directness point deducted for composite outcome |
| 1(5126) | Mortality | Potassium channel openers in addition to existing anti-anginal drug treatment v adding placebo to existing anti-anginal drug treatment | 4 | –1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moderate | Quality point deducted as trial not adequately powered for this outcome |
Type of evidence: 4 = RCT; 2 = Observational. Consistency: similarity of results across studies Directness: generalisability of population or outcomes Effect size: based on relative risk or odds ratio