Comparison 1. Efficacy.

Outcome or subgroup title	No. of studies	No. of participants	Statistical method	Effect size
1 Glycated haemoglobin	22		Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
1.1 Short term	4	1259	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.08 [‐0.17, 0.00]
1.2 Intermediate term	10	2724	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.17 [‐0.23, ‐0.10]
1.3 Long term	9	3302	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.01 [‐0.06, 0.08]
2 Fasting blood glucose	17		Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
2.1 Short term	4	1326	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.94 [‐1.22, ‐0.66]
2.2 Intermediate term	8	2015	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐1.06 [‐1.29, ‐0.82]
2.3 Long term	6	2687	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.70 [‐0.89, ‐0.52]
3 Fasting plasma glucose	12		Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
3.1 Short term	3	1208	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐1.42 [‐1.94, ‐0.91]
3.2 Intermediate term	6	2211	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐1.06 [‐1.41, ‐0.70]
3.3 Long term	4	2182	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.81 [‐1.29, ‐0.32]
4 Mean daily self measured blood glucose (SMBG) average (7‐8 points)	6	790	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.47 [‐0.58, ‐0.36]
4.1 Short term	3	425	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.47 [‐0.58, ‐0.35]
4.2 Intermediate term	2	244	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.43 [‐1.09, 0.24]
4.3 Long term	1	121	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.5 [‐0.98, ‐0.02]
5 Glycated haemoglobin‐ total	22	6666	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.08 [‐0.12, ‐0.04]
6 Fasting blood glucose‐total	17	5409	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.86 [1.00, ‐0.72]
7 Fasting plasma glucose‐ total	11	4868	Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	‐0.63 [‐0.86, ‐0.40]