Table 2.
Summary of findings for each intervention in comparison to placebo
| Patient or population: children with Kashin-Beck disease Outcomes: improvement of metaphyseal lesions on X-ray Intervention: Se, Se salt, Se yeast, Se+VE, Se+VC, VC Comparison: placebo | ||||||
| Intervention/comparison | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) (based on network meta-analysis) |
SUCRA | No. of participants (studies with direct evidence) |
Quality of the evidence based on network meta-analysis (GRADE) |
|
| Repair rate with placebo | Repair rate with Se | |||||
| Se salt vs placebo | 34 per 100 | 87 per 100 (60 to 97) |
OR 12.37 (2.81 to 54.41) |
86.0% | 59 (1 RCT) |
⨁⨁◯◯ Low †‡ |
| Se+VE vs placebo | 45 per 100 | 90 per 100 (72 to 97) |
OR 10.72 (3.14 to 36.57) |
82.8% | 145 (2 RCTs) |
⨁⨁◯◯ Low†‡ |
| Se yeast vs placebo | 38 per 100 | 78 per 100 (51 to 93) |
OR 5.81 (1.70 to 19.89) |
62.5% | 120 (1 RCT) |
⨁⨁⨁◯ Moderate† |
| Se vs placebo | 42 per 100 | 77 per 100 (69 to 84) |
OR 4.68 (2.99 to 7.34) |
52.5% | 2427 (11 RCTs) |
⨁⨁◯◯ Low†§ |
| Se+VC vs placebo | 34 per 100 | 63 per 100 (38 to 83) |
OR 3.26 (1.14 to 9.28) |
35.7% | 54 (1 RCT) |
⨁⨁⨁◯ Moderate† |
| VC vs placebo | 34 per 100 | 61 per 100 (40 to 79) |
OR 3.05 (1.29 to 7.20) |
30.1% | 124 (2 RCTs) |
⨁⨁⨁◯ Moderate† |
GRADE Working Group grades of evidence.
High quality: we are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect.
Moderate quality: we are moderately confident in the effect estimate. The true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different.
Low quality: our confidence in the effect estimate is limited. The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect.
Very low quality: we have very little confidence in the effect estimate. The true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect.
*The repair rate in the intervention group (and its 95% CI) is based on the assumed rate in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI).
†Limitations (risk of bias): no studies described adequate methods regarding the sequence of randomisation and reported allocation concealment. Some studies did not use of a blinding method and intention-to-treat analysis.
‡Inconsistency: small sample size ora higher I² or both.
§Imprecision: the effects are large but the overall sample size is low.
RCT, randomised-controlled trial; Se, sodium selenite; Se salt, selenium salt; Se+VC, the combination of sodium selenite with vitamin C; Se+VE, the combination of sodium selenite with vitamin E, Se yeast, selenium enriched yeast; SUCRA, surface under the cumulative ranking curve; VC, vitamin C.