Summary of findings 3. Pulse versus tapered continuous dosage regimens to prevent BPD in preterm infants.
| Pulse versus tapered continuous dosage regimens to prevent BPD in preterm infants | |||||
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Patient or population: preterm infants Settings: neonatal intensive care unit Intervention: pulse therapy Comparison: tapered continuous dosage | |||||
| Outcomes | № of participants (studies) Follow up | Quality of the evidence (GRADE) | Relative effect (95% CI) | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | |
| Risk with continuous dexamethasone therapy | Risk difference with Pulse | ||||
| Death or bronchopulmonary dysplasia at 36 weeks PMA | 197 (2 RCTs) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ LOW 1 2 | RR 1.38 (1.02 to 1.88) | Study population | |
| 39/100 (39.0%) | 148 more per 1000 (8 more to 343 more) | ||||
| Moderate | |||||
| 38.2% | 145 more per 1000 (8 more to 336 more) | ||||
| Death or abnormal neurodevelopmental outcome (various definitions) | 76 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ VERY LOW 1 2 3 | RR 1.23 (0.79 to 1.92) | Study population | |
| 17/37 (45.9%) | 106 more per 1000 (96 fewer to 423 more) | ||||
| Moderate | |||||
| 46.0% | 106 more per 1000 (96 fewer to 423 more) | ||||
| *The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: Confidence interval; RR: Risk ratio; OR: Odds ratio; | |||||
| 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 | |||||
1 Peformance and detection bias in Bloomfield study
2 Total number of included patients less than OIS calculation
3 Barkemeyer could provide long‐term outcomes