2. Steroid avoidance versus steroid maintenance ‐ stratified subgroup and sensitivity analysis for death, graft loss and acute rejection up to one year after transplantation.
| Death | Graft loss | Acute rejection | Biopsy‐proven acute rejection | |||||||||
| Studies | RR | 95% CI | Studies | RR | 95% CI | Studies | RR | 95% CI | Studies | RR | 95% CI | |
| ITT analysis | ||||||||||||
| ITT analysis used | 7 | 1.16 | 0.48 to 2.83 | 5 | 1.09 | 0.56 to 2.11 | 4 | 1.92 | 1.18 to 3.14 | 4 | 2.31 | 1.47 to 3.63 |
| ITT analysis not used/unclear | 3 | 0.51 | 0.07 to 3.83 | 2 | 1.11 | 0.46 to 2.67 | 3 | 1.24 | 0.97 to 1.59 | 2 | 1.05 | 0.49 to 2.23 |
| Calcineurin inhibitor | ||||||||||||
| CsA | 8 | 0.88 | 0.47 to 1.66 | 5 | 1.08 | 0.59 to 1.99 | 5 | 1.31 | 1.05 to 1.63 | 3 | 1.89 | 1.29 to 2.79 |
| TAC | 2 | 6.82 | 0.36 to 130.81 | 2 | 1.14 | 0.39 to 3.3 | 2 | 2.40 | 1.05 to 5.49 | 3 | 1.81 | 0.66 to 4.99 |
| Antimetabolite | ||||||||||||
| MMF or EC‐MPS | 6 | 1.15 | 0.36 to 3.69 | 6 | 1.09 | 0.56 to 2.11 | 5 | 1.87 | 1.20 to 2.91 | 6 | 1.94 | 1.26 to 2.98 |
| AZA | 1 | 1.64 | 0.29 to 9.2 | NA | ‐‐ | ‐‐ | NA | ‐‐ | ‐‐ | NA | ‐‐ | ‐‐ |
| MMF or EC‐MPS or AZA | 8 | 1.16 | 0.48 to 2.83 | NA | ‐‐ | ‐‐ | NA | ‐‐ | ‐‐ | NA | ‐‐ | ‐‐ |
| None | 2 | 0.51 | 0.07 to 3.83 | 1 | 1.11 | 0.46 to 2.67 | 2 | 1.26 | 0.95 to 1.65 | NA | ‐‐ | ‐‐ |
| Induction treatment | ||||||||||||
| Induction (yes) | 7 | 0.97 | 0.38 to 2.48 | 5 | 1.06 | 0.45 to 2.46 | 4 | 1.50 | 0.97 to 2.32 | 5 | 1.67 | 1.19 to 2.36 |
| Induction (no) | 3 | 0.92 | 0.17 to 5.01 | 2 | 1.12 | 0.57 to 2.2 | 3 | 1.72 | 0.89 to 3.32 | 1 | 3.89 | 2.16 to 7.03 |
AZA ‐ azathioprine; CI ‐ confidence interval; CsA ‐ cyclosporin A; EC‐MPS ‐ enteric‐coated mycophenolate sodium; ITT ‐ intention to treat; MMF ‐ mycophenolate mofetil; NA ‐ not available; RR ‐ risk ratio; TAC ‐ tacrolimus