| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Abusibeih 2010 | Quasi‐randomised trial |
| Anon 2012 | Abstract only; insufficient information to assess |
| Baradari 2012 | Not aimed to assess VAP incidence or mortality |
| Bellissimo‐Rodrigues 2014 | Intervention was dental care, not dental hygiene care |
| Bordenave 2011 | Identified from ClinicalTrials.gov website as ongoing study but email from contact author on 8 November 2012 confirmed that this study did not proceed due to lack of funding |
| Buckley 2013 | Not RCT |
| Chao 2009 | Not RCT |
| Darnell 2015 | Not RCT |
| Epstein 1994 | The participants involved in the study were not critically ill |
| Fan 2012 | The ingredients of the mouthwash used in the trial were not reported, so we could not judge the mouthwash containing antibiotics or not |
| Fan 2015 | The CHX solution used in interventions contained antibiotics |
| Ferozali 2007 | The target population was long‐term care residents, not critically ill people in hospitals |
| Genuit 2001 | Not RCT |
| Grap 2004 | Not aimed to assess VAP incidence or mortality |
| Gu 2013 | Not RCT |
| Guo 2007 | RCT, but patients had lung trauma (injury before receiving the oral nursing intervention) |
| Houston 2002 | Likely that fewer than 10% of study participants had mechanical ventilation for a minimum of 48 hours |
| Jafari 2007 | Abstract only; insufficient information to assess |
| Kusahara 2012b | Not aimed to assess VAP incidence or mortality |
| Labeau 2013 | Not RCT |
| Lai 1997 | RCT of critically ill people, unclear how many were on mechanical ventilation, outcome candidiasis |
| Li 2011 | Participants allocated to groups by alternation (not RCT) |
| Li 2012 | The mouthwash Kouitai used in the trial contains both chlorhexidine and metronidazole, and the latter is an antibiotic |
| Liang 2007 | The participants involved in the study did not use mechanical ventilation |
| Liao 2015 | Not RCT |
| Liwu 1990 | Clinical controlled trial, not an RCT |
| MacNaughton 2004 | Abstract only; insufficient information to assess |
| Maury 2015 | Not RCT |
| McCartt 2010 | Not aimed to assess VAP incidence or mortality |
| McCoy 2012 | Not RCT |
| Munro 2015 | Intervention was preintubation oral hygiene care |
| Needleman 2011 | Not aimed to assess VAP incidence or mortality |
| Ogata 2004 | The target population was patients about to receive orotracheal intubation, they were not on mechanical ventilation. Study about gargling with povidone iodine before oral intubation to reduce the transport of bacteria into the trachea, not oral care intervention in critically ill patients to reduce VAP |
| Pawlak 2005 | Not RCT |
| Pelucchi 2013 | Not RCT, Italian systematic review |
| Pivkina 2014 | Abstract only; insufficient information to assess |
| Sands 2015 | Not RCT |
| Santos 2008 | Email reply from Dr Santos stated that “The nurse put the first admission on biotene and the second admission on cetylpyridium, the third admission on biotene and so on.” Alternation as an allocation method is not truly random and therefore this study was excluded |
| Segers 2006 | The participants involved in the study did not use mechanical ventilation |
| Seo 2011 | Not RCT |
| Swartz 2015 | Not RCT |
| Tattevin 2015 | Not RCT |
| Ueda 2004 | The target population was people in nursing homes, not critically ill people in hospitals |
| Wang 2006 | Quasi‐randomised controlled trial |
| Wang 2012 | The interventions being tested in the experimental group included elevation of the head of the bed, closed endotracheal suctioning in addition to oral nursing care, which is outside the scope of the review |
| Yin 2004 | RCT aiming to improve oral cleanliness. Unlikely that participants received mechanical ventilation |
| Yun 2011 | Not RCT |
| Zouka 2010 | Abstract only, insufficient information to include in review. Emailed contact author 6 November 2012 without response |
RCT = randomised controlled trial