TABLE 6.
Summary of findings table.
| Certainty assessment | No of patients | Effect | Certainty | Importance | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of studies | Study design | Risk of bias | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Other considerations | BBR+placebo/OHAs | placebo/OHAs |
Relative (95% CI) |
Absolute (95% CI) |
||
| FPG | ||||||||||||
| 37 | Randomized trials | serious a | not serious | not serious | not serious | none | 1544 | 1504 | - | MD 0.82 mmol/L lower(0.95 lower to 0.7 lower) | ⊕⊕⊕○Moderate | IMPORTANT |
| HbA1c | ||||||||||||
| 31 | Randomized trials | serious a | not serious | not serious | not serious | none | 1352 | 1331 | - | MD 0.63 % lower(0.72 lower to 0.53 lower) | ⊕⊕⊕○Moderate | IMPORTANT |
| 2hPBG | ||||||||||||
| 34 | Randomized trials | serious a | not serious | not serious | not serious | publication bias strongly suspected b | 1454 | 1430 | - | MD 1.16 mmol/L lower (1.36 lower to 0.96 lower) |
⊕⊕○○Low | IMPORTANT |
| Total adverse events | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Randomized trials | serious a | not serious | not serious | not serious | none | 66/670 (9.9%) | 89/651 (13.7%) | RR 0.73 (0.55 to 0.97) |
37 fewer per 1,000 (from 62 fewer to 4 fewer) |
⊕⊕⊕○Moderate | IMPORTANT |
| Hypoglycemia | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Randomized trials | serious a | not serious | not serious | very serious c | none | 7/95 (7.4%) | 15/91 (16.5%) | RR 0.48 (0.21 to 1.08) |
86 fewer per 1,000(from 130 fewer to 13 more) | ⊕○○○Very low | IMPORTANT |
CI confidence interval, MD mean difference, RR risk ratio.
a
: Most information is from studies at low or unclear risk of bias. Potential limitations are likely to lower confidence in the estimate of effect.
b
: Egger's test showed that there was obvious publication bias.
c
: The optimal information size criterion is not met. The 95% CI overlaps no effect and fails to exclude important benefit.