Table 2.

Vitamin A compared to placebo for neonatal health

Vitamin A compared to placebo for neonatal health
Patient or population: neonates (0‐28 days)
Setting: low and middle income countries
Intervention: vitamin A
Comparison: placebo
Outcomes	Relative effect (95% CI)	No. of participants (studies)	Certainty of the evidence (GRADE)
All‐cause neonatal mortality	RR, 0.99 (0.90–1.08)	126,548 (6 RCTs)	⊕⊕⊕⊕ HIGH
All‐cause mortality at 6 months of age	RR, 0.98 (0.89–1.07)	154,940 (12 RCTs)	⊕⊕⊕⊕ HIGH
All‐cause mortality at 12 months of age	RR, 1.04 (0.94–1.14)	118,376 (8 RCTs)	⊕⊕⊕⊕ HIGH
Adverse Events: Bulging Fontanelle 48–72 h	RR, 1.53 (1.12–2.09)	100,562 (6 RCTs)	⊕⊕⊕⊕ HIGH
*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).
GRADE Working Group grades of evidence
High certainty: We are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect
Moderate certainty: 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 certainty: Our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect
Very low certainty: We have very little confidence in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio; RR, risk ratio.