Oral steroids vs no treatment: Presence/persistence of OME
- Population
- children aged 6 months to 12 years with otitis media with effusion (OME)
- Intervention
- Oral steroids
- Comparison
- no treatment
- Outcome
- Presence/persistence of OME
Oral steroids showed no clear difference in presence/persistence of OME (3 to 9 months ‐ medium‐term) № of… compared with no treatment (low certainty).
What each review found
Include earlier review versions| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Oral steroids vs no treatment Presence/persistence of OME (3 to 9 months ‐ medium‐term) № of participants: 258 (2 RCTs) · children aged 6 months to 12 years with otitis media with effusion (OME) Oral steroids showed no clear difference in presence/persistence of OME (3 to 9 months ‐ medium‐term) № of… compared with no treatment (low certainty). Topical and oral steroids for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children (2023) · Cochrane Headline outcomes only | RR 1.02 [0.89, 1.17] | Not reported | Low |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topical and oral steroids for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only | Not reported | Not extracted | Not assessed |
Related questions
The same intervention and outcome, asked in another population or against another comparator.
- Oral steroids vs placebo · children aged 6 months to 12 years with otitis media with effusion (OME) · 1 review
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.