Table 5.
Primary outcome and data analyses of included trials
| Items | Total (n=248,%) |
English (n=29,%) |
Chinese (n=219,%) |
| Specified primary outcome | |||
| Yes | 27 (10.9) | 11 (37.9) | 16 (7.3) |
| Unclear | 221 (89.1) | 18 (62.1) | 203 (92.7) |
| ITT principle used for primary outcome | |||
| Reported | 27 (100.0) | 11 (100.0) | 16 (100.0) |
| ITT analysis | 7 (25.9) | 5 (45.5) | 2 (12.5) |
| Not reported | 20 (74.1) | 6 (54.5) | 14 (87.5) |
| Type of the primary outcome(s) | |||
| Reported | 27 (100.0) | 11 (100.0) | 16 (100.0) |
| Patient-reported outcome | 25 (92.6) | 9 (81.8) | 16 (100.0) |
| Laboratory results | 1 (3.7) | 1 (9.1) | 0 (0.0) |
| Patient recruitment rate | 1 (3.7) | 1 (9.1) | 0 (0.0) |
| Did LTFU explicitly stated | |||
| Reported | 145 (58.5) | 27 (93.1) | 118 (53.9) |
| Yes, explicit statement: LTFU occurred | 46 (31.7) | 20 (74.1) | 26 (22.0) |
| Yes, explicit statement: LTFU did not occur | 99 (68.3) | 7 (25.9) | 92 (78.0) |
| No, no explicit statement about LTFU, unclear | 103 (41.5) | 2 (6.9) | 101 (46.1) |
| LTFU reported separately for the all arms | |||
| Reported | 46 (100.0) | 20 (100.0) | 26 (100.0) |
| Yes | 37 (80.4) | 18 (90.0) | 19 (73.1) |
| No | 9 (19.6) | 2 (10.0) | 7 (26.9) |
| Comparison of baseline characteristic of LTFU | |||
| Reported | 46 (100.0) | 20 (100.0) | 26 (100.0) |
| Yes | 1 (2.2) | 1 (5.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| No | 45 (97.8) | 19 (95.0) | 26 (100.0) |
| Analytical methods for LTFU data | |||
| Reported | 6 (13.1) | 6 (30.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Last observation carried forward | 4 (66.6) | 4 (66.6) | 0 (0.0) |
| The worst of the scores obtained for the intervention group and the best obtained for the control group | 1 (16.7) | 1 (16.7) | 0 (0.0) |
| Baseline observation carried forward was used for missing data | 1 (16.7) | 1 (16.7) | 0 (0.0) |
| Unclear | 40 (86.9) | 14 (70.0) | 26 (100.0) |
ITT, intention to treat; LTFU, loss to follow-up.