TABLE 4.
Summary of findings.
| TCM plus routine treatment compared to standard treatment for COVID-19 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient or population: COVID-19 Setting: RCT Intervention: TCM plus routine treatment Comparison: Routine treatment | |||||
| Outcome № of participants (studies) |
Relative effect (95% CI) | Anticipated absolute effects (95% CI) | Certainty | ||
| Risk without TCM treatment | Risk with TCM treatmenta | Risk Difference | |||
| Clinical cure № of participants: 357 (2 RCTs) |
RR 1.20 (1.04 to 1.38) | 59.0% | 70.8% (61.3 to 81.4) | 11.8% more (2.4 more to 22.4 more) | ⊕⊕⊕○ MODERATEb |
| The negativity of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test № of participants: 324 (2 RCTs) |
RR 1.08 (0.94 to 1.23) | 67.9% | 73.3% (63.8 to 83.5) | 5.4% more (4.1 fewer to 15.6 more) | ⊕○○○ VERY LOWb , c , d |
| Clinical deterioration № of participants: 414 (3 RCTs) |
RR 0.39 (0.18 to 0.86) | 9.7% | 3.8% (1.7 to 8.3) | 5.9% fewer (8 fewer to 1.4 fewer) | ⊕⊕⊕○ MODERATEb |
| ARDS № of participants: 104 (2 RCTs) |
RR 0.28 (0.11 to 0.69) | 35.3% | 9.9% (3.9 to 24.4) | 25.4% fewer (31.4 fewer to 10.9 fewer) | ⊕⊕⊕○ MODERATEb |
| Mechanical ventilation № of participants: 146 (3 RCTs) |
RR 0.30 (0.12 to 0.77) | 26.2% | 7.8% (3.1 to 20.1) | 18.3% fewer (23 fewer to 6 fewer) | ⊕⊕⊕○ MODERATEb |
| Chest image improvement № of participants: 627 (3 RCTs) |
RR 1.22 (1.07 to 1.39) | 63.7% | 77.7% (68.2 to 88.5) | 14.0% more (4.5 more to 24.8 more) | ⊕⊕⊕○ MODERATEd |
| Death № of participants: 482 (3 RCTs) |
RR 0.28 (0.09 to 0.84) | 6.2% | 1.7% (0.6 to 5.2) | 4.5% fewer (5.7 fewer to 1 fewer) | ⊕⊕⊕○ MODERATEb |
a
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
Explanations:
b
Small sample size, the optimal information size criterion is not met.
c
95% CI overlaps no effect (RR of 1.0).
d
The clinical heterogeneity between the trials exists, so we rate down for this outcome.
The bold was provided by GRADE to highlight the effect