Appendix Table 1. MAS versus Placebo.
| Quality assessment | Summary of findings | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of patients | Effect | ||||||||||
| No of studies | Design | Limitations | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Other considerations |
MAS | Placebo | Absolute (95% CI) | Quality | Importance |
| Apnea-Hypopnea Index (follow-up 0−6 months; measured with: AHI at follow-up; range of scores: 0->30; Better indicated by less) | |||||||||||
| 5 | randomized trial | very serious1,2,3 | no serious inconsistency | no serious indirectness | no serious imprecision | none | 95 | 89 | MD −10.2 (−16.12 to −4.28) | ⊕⊕ΟΟ LOW |
CRITICAL |
| Epworth Sleepiness Scale (follow-up 0-6 months; measured with: ESS at follow-up; range of scores: 0−24; Better indicated by less) | |||||||||||
| 4 | randomized trial | very serious1,2,3 | no serious inconsistency | serious4 | no serious imprecision | none | 82 | 76 | MD −1.96 (−4.86 to 0.94) | ⊕ΟΟΟ VERY LOW |
IMPORTANT4 |
1
No blinding in some studies
2
Many studies had large losses to follow-up with no intent-to-treat analyses
3
Although all studies had similar mean AHI values, the standard deviations were high for all studies indicating varying degrees of AHI severity in the sample.
4
The ESS is a subjective measure that may not be sensitive enough to detect subtle changes in daytime sleepiness.