anurajms/meta_analysis huggingface dataset:
primary outcome:
Reduced dietary salt for the prevention of cardiovascular disease
All‐cause mortality.Cardiovascular mortality.Cardiovascular morbidity (including fatal and non‐fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, angina, heart failure, peripheral vascular events, sudden death, revascularisation (coronary artery bypass surgery or angioplasty with or without stenting) and cardiovascular‐related hospital admissions).
primary outcome:
Cordyceps sinensis (a traditional Chinese medicine) for treating chronic kidney disease
Time to requirement for RRT or initiation of dialysisAll‐cause mortalityCKD progression, defined as increased CrCl or decreased SCr > 20% from baseline (Zheng 2002).
primary outcome:
Ephedrine for myasthenia gravis, neonatal myasthenia and the congenital myasthenic syndromes
Change in a score measuring endurance within one to 14 days of the start of treatment, preferably measured by a recognised and validated instrument, such as the Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Scale (QMG).
primary outcome:
Glutamine supplementation for young infants with severe gastrointestinal disease
Death prior to hospital discharge.Neurodevelopmental outcomes assessed beyond infancy (neurological evaluations, developmental scores, and classifications of disability including auditory and visual disability, non‐ambulant cerebral palsy, and developmental delay) and cognitive and educational outcomes (intelligence quotient and/or indices of educational achievement measured using a validated tool, including school examination results).
primary outcome:
NA
The number of participants with at least 50% of maximum pain relief at four to six hours.The number of participants rating their treatment as "very good" or "excellent" on a five‐point categorical patient global evaluation of treatment (PGE) scale with the wording "poor, fair, good, very good, excellent" (or equivalent).The number of participants achieving a self defined clinically meaningful level of pain relief.The number of participants with headache relief at two hours.
primary outcome:
Music interventions for mechanically ventilated patients
State anxiety (defined as a temporary unpleasant emotional arousal in the face of threatening demands or dangers; this is in contrast with trait anxiety, which reflects the existence of stable individual differences in reactions (Spielberger 1983)), as reported by the study authors
primary outcome:
Co‐enzyme Q10 supplementation for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular mortalityAll‐cause mortalityNon‐fatal endpoints such as MI, CABG, PTCA, angina or angiographically defined CHD, stroke, carotid endarterectomy, PAD
primary outcome:
Garlic for the common cold
For prevention trials, the outcome of interest was the number of occurrences of the common cold.For treatment trials, the primary outcome of interest was the duration of symptoms of the common cold.
primary outcome:
Decongestants, antihistamines and nasal irrigation for acute sinusitis in children
Symptom resolution ‐ improvement in symptom score from enrolment to day five (+/‐ three days).Symptom burden ‐ average symptom score while on therapy.
primary outcome:
Probiotics for preventing ventilator‐associated pneumonia
Incidence of VAP.All‐cause mortality, including ICU mortality, 28/30‐day mortality, hospital mortality or mortality at an unspecified time.Safety (including incidence of diarrhoea).
primary outcome:
Astragalus (a traditional Chinese medicine) for treating chronic kidney disease
Time to requirement for renal replacement therapy (RRT)/initiation of dialysisAll‐cause mortality.
primary outcome:
Acupuncture for schizophrenia
1. Global state1.1 Relapse2. Mental state2.2 No clinically important change in general mental state ‐ as defined by each of the studies3. Service outcomes3.1 Hospitalisation4. Adverse effects4.1 Clinically important general adverse effects
primary outcome:
Cannabis and schizophrenia
We grouped outcomes into the short term (up to 12 weeks), medium term (13 to 26 weeks), and long term (more than 26 weeks).
primary outcome:
Acupuncture for functional dyspepsia
Symptomatic improvement in any of the following.Symptom scores.Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI).Functional Digestive Disorder Quality of Life questionnaire (FDDQL).Satisfaction With Dyspepsia Related Health scale (SODA).Digestive Health Status Instrument (DHSI).Effective rate, inefficient rate, etc.No symptom recurrence six months from completion of acupuncture treatment.
primary outcome:
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for panic disorder in adults
1. Effectiveness: symptom severity, determined from the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) (Shear 1997)2. Acceptability: (1) dropouts for any reason as a proxy measure of total acceptability; (2) dropouts for adverse effects
primary outcome:
Glutamine supplementation for critically ill adults
Number of infectious complications (as defined in each of the included studies)Mortality (measured at the follow‐up times closest to one and six months)
primary outcome:
Oral zinc for arterial and venous leg ulcers
The following objective measures of healing were regarded as valid:The incidence and severity of side effects were also recorded.
primary outcome:
Antioxidants for pain in chronic pancreatitis
Pain: pain complaints after the intervention compared with before the intervention. Pain is a subjective outcome, and many different ways of measuring pain are used; therefore, no strict definition of pain can be provided. The pain outcome measures used in all trials are presented in a matrix table (Table 1).
primary outcome:
Chinese herbal medicines for treating skin and soft‐tissue infections
Healing (defined as either the resolution of all clinical signs and symptoms of infection, as assessed by laboratory test or as defined by trialists) either as time to healing or proportion healed.
primary outcome:
Phototherapy for treating pressure ulcers
time to healing/rate of healing;number of wounds healed in a specified time period.
primary outcome:
Zinc supplements for preventing otitis media
Number of participants with at least one episode of definite acute otitis media (AOM) during follow‐up; diagnosed by clinical assessment of the ear.Number of episodes of definite AOM per participant per year of follow‐up.Number of days with definite otitis media (acute or chronic) per participant per year of follow‐up.
primary outcome:
Acupuncture for treating acute ankle sprains in adults
Patient‐reported assessment of function (assessed using, e.g. the ankle activity score (Halasi 2004), Tegner activity level (Tegner 1985), Kaikkonen functional scale (Kaikkonen 1994), Karlsson ankle function score (Karlsson 1996) and Olerud and Molander ankle score (Rose 2000))Cure rate (the ratio of the number of cured participants with acute ankle sprains to the number of participants: cure means improvement in both clinical symptoms, such as pain and swelling of the ankle joint, and recovery of ankle function to the participant's pre‐injury health status) (as defined by study authors)Adverse events related to acupuncture treatment (short‐term events), e.g. severe nausea, fainting, dizziness and vomiting, unexpected and prolonged aggravation of existing problems, emotional reactions, prolonged pain and bruising, and infection (MacPherson 2001)
primary outcome:
Creatine for Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease motor impairments, measured using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) subscale III.
primary outcome:
Vitamins C and E for asthma and exercise‐induced bronchoconstriction
Health‐related quality of life (measured using clinically validated tools).Asthma exacerbation, defined as hospital admission or treatment with a course of oral corticosteroids and/or antibiotics.
primary outcome:
Oral herbal therapies for treating osteoarthritis
The main outcome measures considered were consistent with those used across Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group systematic reviews of interventions for OA: pain, function, adverse events, joint structure changes, and quality of life (Altman 1996; Pham 2004).To assess the benefits of treatment:To assess the safety of treatment:Minor outcomes included:We extracted data from the last time point in each trial. Because most interventions were not purported to be structure modifying, we also extracted data from earlier time points in some studies to allow data pooling with trials of shorter duration.We included the following outcomes in the summary of findings tables, derived from the list of outcomes recommended by the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group (CMSG) for inclusion in reviews of interventions for osteoarthritis: pain; function; number of participants experiencing any adverse event; withdrawals due to adverse events; serious adverse events; radiographic joint structure; and quality of life.We did not extract data for re‐analysis on any other outcome measures, such as swelling, use of rescue medications, or blood markers although these data were included in many of the included studies.
primary outcome:
Horticultural therapy for schizophrenia
We planned to divide all outcomes into short term (less than six months), medium term (seven to 12 months) and long term (over one year).
primary outcome:
Vitamin D supplementation for cystic fibrosis
Bone mineral density or vitamin D specific deficiency outcomesosteopenia (defined on dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans as T score between ‐1.0 and ‐2.5 standard deviations (SD) compared to a reference population (World Health Organization 1994)osteoporosis (defined on DXA scans as T score less than or equal to ‐ 2.5 SD compared to a reference population (World Health Organization 1994)severe osteoporosis (defined on DXA scans as T score less than or equal to ‐ 2.5 SD and with one or more fragility fractures compared to a reference population (World Health Organization 1994)Growth and nutritional status (weight Z score)
primary outcome:
Acupuncture for epilepsy
Seizure freedom.Satisfactory seizure control: 50% or greater reduction in seizure frequency.Absolute or percentage reduction in seizure frequency and duration.Improved quality of life if assessed by validated, reliable scales.
primary outcome:
Vitamin D and vitamin D analogues for preventing fractures in post‐menopausal women and older men
Hip fracture
primary outcome:
Cannabinoids for epilepsy
The proportion of patients achieving seizure freedom
primary outcome:
Chinese herbal medicines for benign thyroid nodules in adults
Nodule volume reduction ≥ 50% (evaluated by ultrasonography measurements) (at the end of scheduled follow‐up).Pressure symptoms, cosmetic complaints or both (at the end of scheduled follow‐up).Adverse events (at the end of scheduled follow‐up).
primary outcome:
Light therapy for improving cognition, activities of daily living, sleep, challenging behaviour, and psychiatric disturbances in dementia
Cognition (global or single domain, e.g. memory)ADLsSleep‐wake disturbancesChallenging behaviour  (e.g. agitation)Psychiatric disturbances (e.g. depression)Adverse effects
primary outcome:
Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold
The primary efficacy outcome measure for prevention trials was the number of participants experiencing at least one cold episode.The primary efficacy outcome measure for treatment trials was duration in days.The primary outcome for safety and acceptability for both prevention and treatment trials was the number of participants dropping out due to side effects or adverse events.
primary outcome:
Psychological and educational interventions for atopic eczema in children
The participant‐rated global assessment was the primary outcome measure if available. We refer here to the evaluation of the participant deeming the intervention to be effective or helpful or ineffective or unhelpful as an outcome measure. If this was not available, we used the medical practitioner global rating (percentage with good or excellent improvement).Reduction in disease severity as measured by a trained assessor (Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) is 8.7 points for the SCORAD, 8.2 for the objective SCORAD, 6.6 for the EASI (Eczema Area and Severity Index), and 3.4 for the POEM (Patient Orientated Eczema Measure)) (Schram 2012).Improvement in sleep.Improvement in quality of life or reduction in distress of the child and parent (caregiver).
primary outcome:
Music for stress and anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease patients
Psychological distress including anxiety, depression, and mood;Quality of life.
primary outcome:
Electromagnetic fields for treating osteoarthritis
The primary measure of effectiveness was pain relief, as suggested by the third Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) conference (Bellamy 1997). We included the other outcomes from this conference for analysis. According to OMERACT 3 (Bellamy 1997) (last reviewed in OMERACT 6) (Pham 2003) standardised, validated instruments, such as visual analogue scales (VAS) (Carlsson 1983) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) scale for pain (Bellamy 1988) and the Lequesne Functional Severity Index (Lequesne 1987), should be used to evaluate these outcomes.
primary outcome:
Phytoestrogens for menopausal vasomotor symptoms
EfficacyChange in vasomotor menopausal symptom scores (without distinction between types of vasomotor symptoms)Change in frequency of individual vasomotor symptoms or severity of individual vasomotor symptom scores (e.g. hot flushes and night sweats)Incidence of vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats) after treatment
primary outcome:
Dietary advice for reducing cardiovascular risk
1. Cardiovascular risk factors: resting blood pressure, blood lipids and lipoproteins (cholesterol), blood or red cell folate and homocysteine.
2. Bio‐markers of dietary intake: urinary sodium, urinary potassium and blood diet‐derived antioxidants such as β‐carotene.
primary outcome:
Chromium picolinate supplementation for overweight or obese adults
Weight loss (e.g. BMI, waist circumference, percentage body fat).Adverse events (e.g. gastrointestinal, nervous system, metabolism).Health‐related quality of life (measured with a validated instrument).
primary outcome:
Vitamin C for asthma and exercise‐induced bronchoconstriction
Health‐related quality of life.Asthma exacerbation as defined by hospital admissions or treatment with a course of oral corticosteroids.
primary outcome:
Pelargonium sidoides extract for treating acute respiratory tract infections
Time to complete resolution of all symptoms (in days), or number of patients not resolved at a predefined time.Time to complete resolution of key symptoms (in days), or number of patients with key symptoms not resolved at a predefined time.
primary outcome:
'Third wave' cognitive and behavioural therapies versus treatment as usual for depression
1. Treatment efficacy: the number of participants who responded to treatment, as determined by changes in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (Beck 1961), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM‐D) (Hamilton 1960) or Montgomery‐Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) (Montgomery 1979) scores, or in scores from any other validated depression scale. Many studies define response as 50% or greater reduction on BDI, HAM‐D, etc., with some studies defining response by using Jacobson's Reliable Change Index; we accepted the study authors' original definition. If the original authors reported several outcomes corresponding with our definition of response, we gave preference to BDI as a self‐rating scale and to HAM‐D as an observer‐rating scale.2. Treatment acceptability: the number of participants who dropped out of psychological therapy for any reason.
primary outcome:
Chinese herbal medicine for diabetic peripheral neuropathy
The primary outcome was an improvement of 30% or more in a validated clinical global symptom score, such as a visual analogue scale (VAS) score (Revill 1976), or total symptom score (Ametov 2003), at least four weeks after randomisation. Where this outcome was not available, the primary outcome was global symptom improvement by whatever criteria the trial authors used. The outcome was measured after at least four weeks of treatment but preferably after 12 weeks of treatment.
primary outcome:
Dance therapy for schizophrenia
We divided outcomes into short term (less than one month) medium term (one month ‐ three months) and long term (more than three months).
primary outcome:
Interventions for replacing missing teeth: hyperbaric oxygen therapy for irradiated patients who require dental implants
Outcome measures of interest were the following.
primary outcome:
Chinese herbal medicine for atopic eczema
Percentage of trial participants with at least good or excellent improvement in terms of investigator global score. We included both short‐term (within six weeks) and long‐term (more than six weeks) improvement.Percentage of trial participants with at least good or excellent improvement in terms of participants' or parents' global score. We included both short‐term (within six weeks) and long‐term (more than six weeks) improvement.
primary outcome:
Acupuncture and assisted reproductive technology
1. Live birth rate, defined as delivery of a live fetus after 20 completed weeks gestational age
primary outcome:
Respiratory muscle training for cervical spinal cord injury
Respiratory complicationsDyspnoeaVC
primary outcome:
Homocysteine lowering interventions for peripheral arterial disease and bypass grafts
death;limb loss rate;changes in the ankle brachial index (ABI).
primary outcome:
Thiamine for prevention and treatment of Wernicke‐Korsakoff Syndrome in people who abuse alcohol
The primary outcome measures of interest included the following:
primary outcome:
Uterine massage for preventing postpartum haemorrhage
Blood loss 500 mL or more after trial entry.Placenta delivered more than 30 minutes after birth.
primary outcome:
Alginate dressings for healing diabetic foot ulcers
Time to ulcer healing; and,number of ulcers completely healed within a specific time period (we assumed that the period of time in which healing occurred was the duration of the trial unless otherwise stated)
primary outcome:
Ginkgo biloba for intermittent claudication
The primary outcome measurement was the absolute claudication distance (ACD) at the end of the study.
primary outcome:
Music interventions for preoperative anxiety
The primary outcome for this review was preoperative anxiety. Measures of anxiety included the State Anxiety scale of the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI‐S) (Spielberger 1983), visual analogue scales (VAS), numerical rating scales (NRS), and the Zung Self‐Rating Anxiety Scale. We only included scales with established reliability and validity (that is, as evidenced in at least one prior published study in a peer‐reviewed journal).
primary outcome:
Xiongshao for restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with coronary heart disease
Cardiac mortality.All‐cause mortality.Serious adverse events (acute myocardial infarction (AMI), target lesion or vessel revascularization, repeat PCI, coronary artery bypass (CABG)).
primary outcome:
Magnesium maintenance therapy for preventing preterm birth after threatened preterm labour
preterm birth;perinatal mortality (defined as stillbirths and liveborn infants who died prior to hospital discharge);any neurological disability at follow‐up.
primary outcome:
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for improving function after stroke
Activities of daily living, such as the Barthel index, the Functional Independence Measure, and the modified Rankin Scale.
primary outcome:
Acupuncture for treating fibromyalgia
Included studies must have reported one or more of the following main clinical outcome measures related to pain, function and quality of life.
primary outcome:
The medical use of cannabis for reducing morbidity and mortality in patients with HIV/AIDS
Mortality (HIV‐related; all‐cause)Morbidity (frequency, type and duration of episodes of opportunistic infections; malignancies; incidence of AIDS (as defined by each study); hospital admissions; and other illness types as measured in the studies)
primary outcome:
Antenatal perineal massage for reducing perineal trauma
(a) Perineal trauma requiring suturing;
(b) first‐degree perineal tear;
(c) second‐degree perineal tear;
(d) third‐ or fourth‐degree perineal trauma;
(e) incidence of episiotomy.
primary outcome:
Garlic for peripheral arterial occlusive disease
Two main outcome measures were considered: objective measures of progression of underlying atherosclerosis (e.g. ankle pressure measurements, treadmill testing, angiography); and subjective measures (e.g. symptom progression).
primary outcome:
Oral evening primrose oil and borage oil for eczema
Global degree of improvement in symptoms and signs as rated by participant or medical doctor.Improvement in quality of life.
primary outcome:
Chinese medicinal herbs for influenza
Rate of recovery: the symptoms and clinical manifestations were completely cleared and the body temperature returned to normal within one to three days after treatment. Or, time to symptom clearance, including fever, muscle pain, headache, cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, etc. This could be described as the rate by which symptoms cleared after treatment, for example, by day three. Or, rate of no improvement at a time point after treatment, for example, day three.Mortality.Incidence of influenza in prophylaxis studies.
primary outcome:
Topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis
Investigator's Assessment of Overall Global Improvement (IAGI)/Investigator's Global Assessment of Disease Severity (IGA).Total Severity Scores (TSS).Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI).Patient Assessment of overall Global Improvement (PAGI)/Patient Global Assessment of Disease Severity (PGA).
primary outcome:
Ginkgo biloba for tinnitus
1) Patients' subjective assessment of tinnitus before, during and after treatment.There are a number of validated questionnaires which provide a scale of severity of disability and handicap associated with tinnitus (e.g. the 'Tinnitus Handicap Inventory' (Newman 1996) and the 'Tinnitus Questionnaire' (Hallam 1988)). Whilst the use of such validated and relatively robust assessment tools is preferable, we considered any categorical distinction between different grades of loudness and 'severity'.2) Change in psychoacoustic parameters associated with tinnitus before, during and after treatment.There is ample evidence to show that there is no overall correlation between loudness of tinnitus (as judged by masking threshold) and the degree of distress or disability. However, this applies to a population comparison. When considering the potential for benefit in any one individual, it seems reasonable to consider that an intervention which reduces perceived loudness may be a useful adjunctive measure for a patient undergoing cognitive or behavioural therapy. We therefore considered a change in loudness as judged by masking thresholds as a secondary outcome measure.3) Side effects and adverse effects of treatment.
primary outcome:
Nutritional interventions for reducing morbidity and mortality in people with HIV
Primary outcomesSecondary outcomesIf studies reported on additional outcomes not listed above we also reported the data for these outcomes in the review. Adverse events were recorded when these were provided.
primary outcome:
Multinutrient fortification of human breast milk for preterm infants following hospital discharge
Growth: Weight, length, head growth, skinfold thickness, BMI and measures of body composition (lean/fat mass) and growth‐restriction (proportion of infants who remain < 10th percentile for the index population's distribution of weight, length, or head circumference).Development: (a) Neurodevelopmental outcomes assessed using validated tools at >12 months corrected age, and classifications of disability, including non‐ambulant cerebral palsy, developmental delay, auditory and visual impairment, (b) Cognitive and educational outcomes at > five years: Intelligence quotient and/or indices of educational achievement measured using a validated tool (including school examination results).
primary outcome:
Reduced or modified dietary fat for preventing cardiovascular disease
The main outcomes were total and cardiovascular mortality and combined cardiovascular events. Combined cardiovascular events included any of the following data available from a trial: cardiovascular deaths, cardiovascular morbidity (non‐fatal myocardial infarction, angina, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular events, atrial fibrillation) and unplanned cardiovascular interventions (coronary artery bypass surgery or angioplasty).There were no included studies comparing reduced with modified fat diets that reported total or cardiovascular mortality. Three studies (with 912 participants) reported 28 cardiovascular events, and not suggesting any difference in the effects of a reduced or modified fat diet (RR 1.13, 95% CI 0.41 to 3.06, Analysis 4.3).
primary outcome:
Chinese medicinal herbs for acute bronchitis
Recovery, defined as resolution of all symptoms of acute bronchitis due to the treatment.No change in symptoms.
primary outcome:
Intermittent iron supplementation for improving nutrition and development in children under 12 years of age
Anaemia (haemoglobin below a cut‐off defined by trialists, taking into account the age and altitude)*Haemoglobin (g/L)*Iron deficiency (as measured by trialists by using indicators of iron status, such as ferritin or transferrin)*Iron status (ferritin in μg/L)*Iron deficiency anaemia (defined by the presence of anaemia plus iron deficiency, diagnosed with an indicator of iron status selected by trialists)*All‐cause mortality (number of deaths during the trial)*
primary outcome:
Omega‐3 fatty acids supplementation for autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
Social interaction.Communication.Stereotypy.Social interaction.Communication.Stereotypy.
primary outcome:
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for tinnitus
We measured improvement in tinnitus severity and disability after rTMS and at specified follow‐up points using validated tinnitus‐specific questionnaires (Table 1) (Phillips 2010). Any validated scale was accepted.
primary outcome:
Ginkgo biloba for cognitive impairment and dementia
The outcomes of interest are:
1. cognitive function
2. functional performance (activities of daily living)
3. behavioural disturbance
4. global impression
5. quality of life
6. dependency
7. acceptability of treatment
8. safety.
primary outcome:
Massage and touch for dementia
1. We sought reported changes in the frequency and severity of various types of agitated behaviour as observed by staff or investigators (using any rating method, and short term as well as long term), and in the emotional well‐being and quality of life of the patients (rated by any method by staff, investigators and/or patients themselves).
2. Additionally, we considered outcomes in terms of cognitive abilities, survival, medication use, and caregiver burden.
3. We calculated overall response within a given type of outcome where appropriate.
4. We also considered global response, given that considerable individual differences in response are to be expected.
primary outcome:
Interventions for improving health literacy in migrants
health literacy; andadverse events associated with the intervention (e.g. anxiety).
primary outcome:
Interventions for interpersonal communication about end of life care between health practitioners and affected people
We collected data on a range of primary and secondary outcomes.
primary outcome:
Interventions to enable communication for adult patients requiring an artificial airway with or without mechanical ventilator support
Depending on the nature of the intervention (non‐vocal or voice‐enabling aid) under investigation, our primary outcome was the proportion of participants able to:use a non‐vocal communication aid to communicate at least one symptom, need, or preference; oruse a voice‐enabling communication aid to phonate to produce at least one intelligible word.
primary outcome:
Interventions to improve adherence to pharmacological therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Adherence to pharmacotherapya,b (all measures, as reported by trialists. We considered the following order of preference of measures: electronic monitors, canister weights, prescription refills, self‐report).Quality of life (measured using a validated scale such as the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) or COPD Assessment Test (CAT)).Hospital service utilisation (e.g. hospital admissions going beyond the emergency department). Depending on the data available, we extracted the number of participants who required hospitalisation or the hospitalisation utilisation rate, or both (as defined by trialists).
primary outcome:
Adult patient access to electronic health records
Patient knowledge and understanding (e.g. disease‐related knowledge).Patient empowerment* (e.g. patient autonomy, self‐management, self‐efficacy, patient participation).Patient adherence (e.g. attendance rates, treatment adherence, active reduction of risk factors).Patient satisfaction with care (e.g. with treatment, with the process, with the patient‐provider relationship, with the intervention).Adverse events (e.g. patient anxiety due to unclear information, delay in treatment due to misleading information).
primary outcome:
Interventions for improving medical students' interpersonal communication in medical consultations
overall communication skills (e.g. total scores from OSCE rating checklist relating to communication components, a global or overall rating of communication on a single Likert scale);empathy (e.g. making an empathetic statement, responding to patients' feelings);relationship building/rapport (e.g. rapport or relationship building, communicating without judgement);information‐gathering skills (e.g. process skills such as appropriately using open‐ended and closed questions, eliciting medical content, eliciting patients' concerns or feelings);explanation and planning skills (e.g. giving appropriate information about a diagnosis and/or management plan, shared decision‐making, acknowledging patient preferences);specific communication tasks (e.g. opening the consultation, appropriately using open and closed questions, actively listening, using non‐verbal communication including eye contact, performing facilitative behaviours, structuring the consultation, providing closure);simulated or real patient appraisals of the consultation (e.g. measures of satisfaction, therapeutic alliance, perceived support); andin line with Cochrane Methodological Expectations, adverse events (student complaints or referrals to student welfare).
primary outcome:
Targeted client communication via mobile devices for improving sexual and reproductive health
STI/HIV prevention:Condom usePartner communication ‐ safer sex practices (self‐reported)STI/HIV treatment:Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) (e.g. pill count, prescription data)Adherence to correct treatment for treatable STIsPartner communication ‐ disclosureContraception/family planning:Use of modern method of contraceptionContraceptive adherence (self‐report and objectively measured)Partner communication – fertility intentions (self‐report)Pre‐conception care:Folic acid (objective and self‐report measures)Partner violence:Reporting of experience of violence (sexual, physical, emotional) to a health professionalSTI/HIV prevention/treatment:Clinic attendance for testingClinic attendance for treatment (objective and self‐report measures)Contraception/family planning:Clinic attendance for contraceptionClinic attendance abortionClinic attendance for pregnancy testingClinic attendance for management of abortion complications (objective and self‐report measure)HPV vaccination:Receipt of HPV vaccination (objective and self‐report measures)Cervical screening:Clinic attendance for cervical screening (objective and self‐report measures)Pre‐conception care:Clinic attendance for pre‐conception care (objective and self‐report measures)Partner violence:Use of services designed for those who have experienced partner violenceSTI/HIV prevention:STI (any) statusHIV status (objective and self‐reported measures)STI/HIV treatment:CD4 countViral loadCured (for curable STI) (objective and self‐reported measures)Contraception/family planning:Pregnancy (e.g. conception rate)Abortion (e.g. abortion rate)Unsafe abortion (e.g. hospitalisation due to complications)Experience of infertility (e.g. failure to get pregnant after 12 months of trying) (objective and self‐report measuresPartner violence:Sexual violencePhysical violenceEmotional violence (objective e.g. hospital admissions and self‐report measures)Well‐being:Validated measures of health‐related quality of lifePsychological health related to experience of abuse (e.g. depression, anxiety, post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD))STI prevention and/or treatmentContraception/family planningCervical cancer screeningSexual violenceHPV vaccinationPuberty
primary outcome:
Telephone interventions, delivered by healthcare professionals, for providing education and psychosocial support for informal caregivers of adults with diagnosed illnesses
Caregiver quality of life (QoL) as measured by the trial/study authors or using a standardised/validated measurement instrument (e.g. SF 36, WHOQoL or caregiver QoL index).Caregiver burden as measured by the trial/study authors or using a standardised/validated measurement instrument (e.g. Caregiver Reaction Assessment, Carer Burden Inventory, or Caregiver Strain Index).
primary outcome:
Information or education interventions for adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients and their carers
Severity of anxiety in patients (assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) or other validated method).Severity of depression in patients (assessed with the HADS or other validated method).Knowledge acquisition (patients and carers).
primary outcome:
E‐learning for health professionals
We included the following outcome measures: patient outcomes and health professionals' behaviours, skills or knowledge (Kirkpatrick 1996; Straus 2004).For the purposes of this review, we assessed different components targeted by educational interventions in clinical practice, excluding subjectively assessed outcomes (e.g. learner satisfaction or self‐reported knowledge, intentions to do, or beliefs about capabilities).
primary outcome:
Different communication strategies for disclosing a diagnosis of schizophrenia and related disorders
We planned to divide all outcomes into short term (less than six months), medium term (six to 12 months) and long term (over one year). Primary outcomes were engagement with services and treatment adherence. We also aimed to evaluate strategies in terms of improvement in understanding the nature of the illness and its outcome, psychopathology, disability and satisfaction with health care. We would have only used scale data measured using validated scales (see Data extraction and management).
primary outcome:
Written information for patients (or parents of child patients) to reduce the use of antibiotics for acute upper respiratory tract infections in primary care
Antibiotic use (measured as antibiotics used by patients or antibiotics prescribed by clinicians)
primary outcome:
Time‐limited home‐care reablement services for maintaining and improving the functional independence of older adults
Functional status including measures of the skills and abilities to complete ADL.Adverse events including mortality, hospital (re)admission.
primary outcome:
Interventions to facilitate shared decision making to address antibiotic use for acute respiratory infections in primary care
Prescription of antibiotics (for example, antibiotics prescribed per consultation, or a change in the population rate of antibiotic prescriptions per unit of time).
primary outcome:
Training and supportive programs for palliative care volunteers in community settings
evaluations of care (such as perceptions and ratings of volunteers by clients, families and other palliative care staff),psychological outcomes (such as anxiety, well‐being, confidence, grief, compassion fatigue and resilience),pain‐related outcomes,care outcomes (such as place of death, preferences met), andadverse outcomes (for example complaints by patients and families) as a primary outcome.
primary outcome:
Virtual reality for treatment compliance for people with serious mental illness
We divided all outcomes into short term (less than six months), medium term (seven to 12 months) and long term (over one year).
primary outcome:
Culturally appropriate health education for people in ethnic minority groups with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c).Health‐related quality of life.Adverse events.
primary outcome:
Information and communication technology based prompting for treatment compliance for people with serious mental illness
We divided all outcomes into short term (less than six months), medium term (seven to 12 months) and long term (over one year).
primary outcome:
Audio‐visual presentation of information for informed consent for participation in clinical trials
Participant/guardian knowledge and understanding of the parent study. This may include knowledge and understanding of:concepts related to the research design and conduct of the parent study (for example the concept of randomisation, and how data will be collected);concepts related to the condition or intervention involved in the parent study (for example potential benefits or harms of the intervention).Participant/guardian satisfaction with the information provided about the parent studyRate of participation or willingness to participate in the parent studyAnxiety (or other psychological stress) of participant/guardian associated with the informed consent process
primary outcome:
Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments
Rate of attendance at healthcare appointments
primary outcome:
Face‐to‐face versus remote and web 2.0 interventions for promoting physical activity
cardio‐respiratory fitness (CF), which is often used as a marker for PA and demonstrates similar associations with health related outcomes (Blair 2001). It was either estimated from a submaximal fitness test or recorded directly from a maximal fitness test. CF was typically expressed as a VO2 max score, which is an abbreviation for maximal oxygen uptake (ml/kg/min or ml/min);PA levels expressed as an estimate of total energy expenditure (kcal/kg/week or kcal/week), total minutes completed at a moderate or vigorous intensity, the proportion that reached a predetermined threshold level (for example meeting current public health recommendations), or frequency of participation. PA could be assessed using objective methods (for example accelerometers, pedometers) or more subjective tools (for example PA diary, survey), or both.
primary outcome:
Face‐to‐face interventions for promoting physical activity
cardio‐respiratory fitness (CF), which is often used as a marker for PA and demonstrates similar associations with health related outcomes (Blair 2001). It was either estimated from a submaximal fitness test or recorded directly from a maximal fitness test. CF was typically expressed as a VO2 max score, which is an abbreviation for maximal oxygen uptake (ml/kg/min or ml/min).PA levels expressed as an estimate of total energy expenditure (kcal/kg/week or kcal/week), total minutes completed at a moderate or vigorous intensity, proportion that reached a predetermined threshold level (for example meeting current public health recommendations), or frequency of participation. PA could be assessed using objective methods (for example accelerometers, pedometers) or more subjective tools (for example PA diary, survey), or both.
primary outcome:
Single versus multiple visits for endodontic treatment of permanent teeth
Tooth extraction (binary, yes/no).Radiological failure after at least one year (i.e. the presence of any periapical radiolucency) (binary, yes/no). Table 1 summarises how we adapted the most common scales of radiological healing to a binary outcome.
primary outcome:
Oral care measures for preventing nursing home‐acquired pneumonia
Incidence, incidence proportion, or prevalence of NHAP of any severity (diagnosis of NHAP based on radiological results, clinical signs and symptoms, bacterial culture, or some synthetic criteria (American Thoracic Society 2005))Mortality (pneumonia‐associated)Mortality (all‐cause)
primary outcome:
Periodontal therapy for primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in people with periodontitis
All‐cause and CVD‐related deathAll cardiovascular events (angina, myocardial infarction, stroke)
primary outcome:
Local interventions for the management of alveolar osteitis (dry socket)
Proportion of participants presenting with a dry socket within 1 week post‐treatment.Time to heal dry socket and socket healing indices.Pain: its severity and duration from time of administration of intervention to relief of pain assessed using any patient‐reported validated pain scale.Swelling: assessed using photography or digital morphometry.Limitation of chewing or swallowing and time to resumption of normal feeding.Fever.
primary outcome:
Preprocedural mouth rinses for preventing transmission of infectious diseases through aerosols in dental healthcare providers
Incidence of infection of dental healthcare providers (dentists, dental surgery assistants, dental hygienists, dental technologists, dental laboratory staff, dental aides or trainee students)
primary outcome:
Full‐mouth treatment modalities (within 24 hours) for periodontitis in adults
Tooth loss.Change in probing pocket depth (PPD) after three to four months and six to eight months.
primary outcome:
Treatment of periodontitis for glycaemic control in people with diabetes mellitus
Glycaemic control measured by HbA1c (glycated (glycosylated) haemoglobin assay), which can be reported as a percentage of total haemoglobin or as millimoles per mole (mmol/mol).
primary outcome:
Interventions for treating cavitated or dentine carious lesions
Failure of therapy: a composite outcome, that is, complications including:signs or symptoms of irreversible pulp inflammation or death;endodontic therapy (pulp capping, pulp therapy or root‐canal treatment etc.);extraction of the tooth;restorative failure or retreatment (restoration replacement, repair, resealing of sealed lesions etc.), or both;or a combination of the above.
primary outcome:
Laser therapy for dentinal hypersensitivity
Changes in intensity of pain using quantitative pain scale (visual analogue scale (VAS)) when tested through air blast stimulus at short (0 to 24 hours), medium (24 hours to 2 months) and long term (more than 2 months).Changes in intensity of pain using quantitative pain scale (VAS) when tested through tactile stimulus at short (0 to 24 hours), medium (24 hours to 2 months) and long term (more than 2 months).
primary outcome:
Interventions for replacing missing teeth: alveolar ridge preservation techniques for dental implant site development
Changes in the bucco‐lingual/palatal width of alveolar ridge.Changes in the vertical height of the alveolar ridge.Complications (e.g. discomfort, pain, and swelling).Need for additional augmentation prior to implant placement.Aesthetic outcomes of future prosthodontic rehabilitation.Implant failure (defined as implant loss) rate.
primary outcome:
Adjunctive systemic antimicrobials for the non‐surgical treatment of periodontitis
Percentage of closed pockets (i.e. pocket depth < 4 mm. The 4 mm non‐bleeding site is referred to as a 'closed pocket' as its risk of future breakdown is significantly reduced relative to sites of pocket depth of 5 mm or greater (Walter 2019)).
primary outcome:
Interventions for treating oral lichen planus: corticosteroid therapies
Pain (score and resolution) as assessed by participants (measured at the end of the treatment course).
primary outcome:
Interventions for increasing acceptance of local anaesthetic in children and adolescents having dental treatment
Acceptance of LA (yes/no).
primary outcome:
Oral hygiene interventions for people with intellectual disabilities
Gingival health of people with an ID, for example, plaque, gingival inflammation, calculus.
primary outcome:
Antibiotic use for irreversible pulpitis
Patient‐reported pain (intensity/duration) and pain relief measured on a categorical scale in the preoperative phase of irreversible pulpitis.
primary outcome:
Routine scale and polish for periodontal health in adults
Periodontal disease, assessed by gingivitis indices (both inflammatory and bleeding on probing).
primary outcome:
Home‐based chemically‐induced whitening (bleaching) of teeth in adults
Two primary outcomes were of interest.
primary outcome:
Atraumatic restorative treatment versus conventional restorative treatment for managing dental caries
Restoration failure, that is, a lost or deficient restoration in the 1) primary dentition, 2) permanent immature dentition, 3) permanent mature dentitionPain (during and immediately after treatment expressed as intensity of pain or presence or absence of pain)
primary outcome:
Pharmacological interventions for pain relief during orthodontic treatment
Participant‐reported pain intensity, or relief, measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS), numerical rating scale (NRS) or any categorical scale
primary outcome:
Fluoride supplementation (with tablets, drops, lozenges or chewing gum) in pregnant women for preventing dental caries in the primary teeth of their children
Number of children with caries in the primary teeth.Decayed, missing and filled primary teeth (dmft) and components.Decayed, missing and filled primary tooth surfaces (dmfs) and components.Fluorosis.
primary outcome:
Resorbable versus titanium plates for orthognathic surgery
(1) Need for retreatment or replacement of fixation due to failure of the fixation.
(2) Status of occlusion e.g. Angle's classification, ANB or Wits analysis as assessed by an independent assessor and the inclusion of any subjective assessment by the patient.
(3) Facial appearance and profile; judged by the patient or clinician.
(4) Immediate postoperative assessment of swelling using photography or digital morphometry.
(5) Degree of function postoperatively (mastication, swallowing, speech).
(6) Satisfactory radiographic appearance postoperatively using cephalometric radiographs (lateral and postero‐anterior).
(7) Postoperative pain during the immediate recovery period and any chronic or lasting pain measured using any validated visual analogue scale (VAS).
(8) Analgesic medication used: type, dose, frequency.
primary outcome:
Open versus closed surgical exposure of canine teeth that are displaced in the roof of the mouth
Success of surgery, defined as eruption of the canine crown, sufficient to allow for orthodontic alignment, without the need for repeated surgery.Complications or adverse effects.Aesthetics of the treated canine compared to the untreated contra‐lateral canine.
primary outcome:
Pit and fissure sealants for preventing dental decay in permanent teeth
Dentine caries in permanent molarsmeasured dichotomously as incidence of carious lesions on treated occlusal surfaces of molars or premolars (yes or no). Caries was defined as caries in the dentine but if scored using the ICDAS II scale, in addition to codes 4 to 6, code 3 was also accepted as caries (localised enamel breakdown on occlusal surface reflecting established decay).measured continuously as changes in decayed, missing and filled (DMF) rates at occlusal surface.
primary outcome:
Chlorhexidine mouthrinse as an adjunctive treatment for gingival health
Where gingival inflammation and gingival bleeding were reported within the same study we extracted data on both outcomes.Where gingival inflammation was reported using more than one index within a study, the GI (Löe and Silness 1963; Löe 1967) was chosen over other indices and the MGI (Lobene 1986) was chosen next if the gingival index was not reported.Where gingival bleeding was reported within a study as bleeding on probing (BOP) (Ainamo and Bay 1975) and the proportion of sites with BOP using the GI (i.e. GI scores 2 or 3) (Löe and Silness 1963; Löe 1967), BOP was chosen over the proportion of sites with BOP (GI scores 2 or 3).
primary outcome:
Non‐pharmacological interventions for alleviating pain during orthodontic treatment
Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief, as measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS), numerical rating scale, or any categorical scale.