Table 2.
Adjusted analyses. Data are outcome measure (95% credible interval) unless stated otherwise
| No of meta-analyses, trials | Adjusted for patient blinding | Adjusted for allocation concealment | Adjusted for incomplete outcome data | Adjusted for trial size | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROR | Ф | ĸ | ROR | Ф | ĸ | ROR | Ф | ĸ | ROR | Ф | ĸ | ||||
| (Ia) Effect of blinding patients in trials with patient reported outcomes | |||||||||||||||
| 18, 132 | NA | 0.91 (0.61 to1.35) | 0.20 (0.02 to 0.74) | 0.21 (0.01 to 0.61) | 0.91 (0.63 to 1.31) | 0.17 (0.01 to 0.70) | 0.18 (0.01 to 0.60) | 0.89 (0.59 to 1.29)* | 0.18 (0.02 to 0.74) | 0.18 (0.01 to 0.60) | |||||
| (Ib) Effect of blinding patients in trials with blinded observer reported outcomes | |||||||||||||||
| 14, 95 | NA | 1.07 (0.74 to 1.56) | 0.11 (0.01 to 0.57) | 0.10 (0.01 to 0.57) | 1.08 (0.72 to 1.58) | 0.10 (0.01 to 0.52) | 0.13 (0.01 to 0.72) | 0.99 (0.69 to 1.39) | 0.10 (0.01 to 0.54) | 0.10 (0.01 to 0.57) | |||||
| (IIa) Effect of blinding healthcare providers in trials with healthcare provider decision outcomes | |||||||||||||||
| 29, 173 | NA | 1.03 (0.84 to 1.23) | 0.07 (0.01 to 0.29) | 0.06 (0.01 to 0.28) | 0.98 (0.80 to 1.17) | 0.06 (0.01 to 0.28) | 0.07 (0.01 to 0.30) | 1 (0.83 to 1.19) | 0.06 (0.01 to 0.27) | 0.06 (0.01 to 0.29) | |||||
| (IIb) Effect of blinding healthcare providers in trials with blinded observers/patients assessing the outcome | |||||||||||||||
| 13, 91 | NA | 1.03 (0.67 to 1.54) | 0.13 (0.01 to 0.80) | 0.10 (0.01 to 0.60) | 1.07 (0.69 to 1.64) | 0.12 (0.01 to 0.77) | 0.09 (0.01 to 0.60) | 0.98 (0.63 to 1.44) | 0.13 (0.01 to 0.82) | 0.09 (0.01 to 0.58) | |||||
| (III) Effect of blinding outcome assessors (that is, observers) in trials with subjective outcomes | |||||||||||||||
| 46, 397 | 1.03 (0.87 to 1.23) | 0.10 (0.01 to 0.32) | 0.06 (0.01 to 0.22) | 1.04 (0.89 to 1.23) | 0.10 (0.01 to 0.36) | 0.05 (0.01 to 0.21) | 1.02 (0.87 to 1.19) | 0.08 (0.01 to 0.33) | 0.05 (0.01 to 0.19) | 1.03 (0.88 to 1.21) | 0.10 (0.01 to 0.34) | 0.06 (0.01 to 0.25) | |||
NA=not applicable; ROR=ratio of odds ratios; ĸ=standard deviation increase in heterogeneity between trials; Ф=standard deviation in mean bias between meta-analyses.
*
One meta-analysis (three trials) was removed, which did not specify the size of the trial owing to the format given in the review.