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Each row is one question a systematic review asked: who, what, compared with what, and which outcome, with the effect it found and how certain that is. Words match anywhere in the field.
1,080 questions in 109 reviews · Acute Respiratory Infections
current versionsNo studies 132 · 12.2%Ungraded 90 · 8.3%Very low 169 · 15.6%Low 306 · 28.3%Moderate 287 · 26.6%High 96 · 8.9%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
| Question | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Procalcitonin algorithm vs standard care Antibiotic exposure Total days of antibiotic therapy in all randomised participants · people with acute respiratory tract infections Procalcitonin to initiate or discontinue antibiotics in acute respiratory tract infections (2017) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 26 studies · 6708 participants | High |
Corticosteroids vs control Mortality ‐ adults · people with community‐acquired pneumonia Corticosteroids for pneumonia (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.66 [0.47, 0.92] | 11 studies · 1863 participants | Moderate |
Corticosteroids vs control Mortality ‐ adults ‐ severe CAP · people with community‐acquired pneumonia Corticosteroids for pneumonia (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.58 [0.4, 0.84] | 9 studies · 995 participants | Moderate |
Corticosteroids vs control Mortality ‐ adults ‐ non‐severe CAP · people with community‐acquired pneumonia Corticosteroids for pneumonia (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.95 [0.45, 2] | 4 studies · 868 participants | Moderate |
Corticosteroids vs control Early clinical failure ‐ adults · people with community‐acquired pneumonia Corticosteroids for pneumonia (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.4 [0.23, 0.7] | 6 studies · 1324 participants | Moderate |
Corticosteroids vs control Early clinical failure ‐ adults ‐ severe CAP · people with community‐acquired pneumonia Corticosteroids for pneumonia (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.32 [0.15, 0.7] | 5 studies · 419 participants | High |
Corticosteroids vs control Early clinical failure ‐ adults ‐ non‐severe CAP · people with community‐acquired pneumonia Corticosteroids for pneumonia (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.68 [0.56, 0.83] | 2 studies · 905 participants | High |
Corticosteroids vs control Early clinical failure ‐ children · people with community‐acquired pneumonia Corticosteroids for pneumonia (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.41 [0.24, 0.7] | 2 studies · 88 participants | High |
Intervention NR Acute exacerbations (number of exacerbations/person/year) · adults (> 18 years of age) with either COPD or recurrent acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis Haemophilus influenzae oral vaccination for preventing acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and chronic… (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.79 [0.57, 1.1] | 6 studies · 557 participants | Low |
Intervention NR Mortality (deaths during trial period) · adults (> 18 years of age) with either COPD or recurrent acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis Haemophilus influenzae oral vaccination for preventing acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and chronic… (2017) · Cochrane | OR 1.62 [0.63, 4.12] | 5 studies · 518 participants | Very low |
Intervention NR Carriage of NTHi Not meta‐analysed · adults (> 18 years of age) with either COPD or recurrent acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis Haemophilus influenzae oral vaccination for preventing acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and chronic… (2017) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | NR | Very low |
Intervention NR Antibiotic prescriptions (number of courses/person/year) **Corticosteroids not meta‐analysed · adults (> 18 years of age) with either COPD or recurrent acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis Haemophilus influenzae oral vaccination for preventing acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and chronic… (2017) · Cochrane | RR 1.81 [1.35, 2.44] | 3 studies · 142 participants | Low |
Intervention NR Hospital admissions (number of participants hospitalised during trial period) · adults (> 18 years of age) with either COPD or recurrent acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis Haemophilus influenzae oral vaccination for preventing acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and chronic… (2017) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | NR | Moderate |
Intervention NR Adverse events (number of adverse events/person/year) · adults (> 18 years of age) with either COPD or recurrent acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis Haemophilus influenzae oral vaccination for preventing acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and chronic… (2017) · Cochrane | RR 1.43 [0.7, 2.92] | 5 studies · 484 participants | Low |
Intervention NR Quality of life Not meta‐analysed · adults (> 18 years of age) with either COPD or recurrent acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis Haemophilus influenzae oral vaccination for preventing acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and chronic… (2017) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | NR | Very low |
Influenza vaccine vs control At least 1 episode of acute otitis media · infants and children Influenza vaccines for preventing acute otitis media in infants and children (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.84 [0.69, 1.02] | 4 studies · 3134 participants | Low |
Influenza vaccine vs control Courses of antibiotics · infants and children Influenza vaccines for preventing acute otitis media in infants and children (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.7 [0.59, 0.83] | 2 studies · 1223 participants | Moderate |
Influenza vaccine vs control Fever · infants and children Influenza vaccines for preventing acute otitis media in infants and children (2017) · Cochrane | RR 1.15 [1.06, 1.24] | 7 studies · 10615 participants | Low |
Influenza vaccine vs control Rhinorrhoea · infants and children Influenza vaccines for preventing acute otitis media in infants and children (2017) · Cochrane | RR 1.17 [1.07, 1.29] | 6 studies · 10563 participants | Low |
Influenza vaccine vs control Pharyngitis · infants and children Influenza vaccines for preventing acute otitis media in infants and children (2017) · Cochrane | RR 1 [0.8, 1.25] | 3 studies · 4429 participants | Low |
Open thoracotomy vs thoracostomy drainage Mortality · children with pleural empyema Surgical versus non‐surgical management for pleural empyema (2017) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 1 study · 30 participants | Moderate |
Open thoracotomy vs thoracostomy drainage Length of hospital stay (days) · children with pleural empyema Surgical versus non‐surgical management for pleural empyema (2017) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 1 study · 30 participants | Moderate |
Open thoracotomy vs thoracostomy drainage Procedural complications · children with pleural empyema Surgical versus non‐surgical management for pleural empyema (2017) · Cochrane | OR 0.1 [0.02, 0.63] | 1 study · 30 participants | Moderate |
VATS vs thoracostomy drainage Mortality · children and adults with pleural empyema Surgical versus non‐surgical management for pleural empyema (2017) · Cochrane | OR 0.8 [0.04, 14.89] | 7 studies · 361 participants | Low |
VATS vs thoracostomy drainage Mortality: children · children and adults with pleural empyema Surgical versus non‐surgical management for pleural empyema (2017) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 5 studies · 271 participants | Moderate |
VATS vs thoracostomy drainage Mortality: adults · children and adults with pleural empyema Surgical versus non‐surgical management for pleural empyema (2017) · Cochrane | OR 0.8 [0.04, 14.89] | 2 studies · 90 participants | Moderate |
VATS vs thoracostomy drainage Length of hospital stay (days) · children and adults with pleural empyema Surgical versus non‐surgical management for pleural empyema (2017) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 5 studies · 231 participants | Moderate |
VATS vs thoracostomy drainage Procedural complications · children and adults with pleural empyema Surgical versus non‐surgical management for pleural empyema (2017) · Cochrane | OR 0.46 [0.08, 2.75] | 5 studies · 271 participants | Moderate |
Zinc vs placebo Mortality · children with measles and pneumonia Zinc supplementation for the treatment of measles in children (2017) · Cochrane | RR 0.34 [0.01, 8.14] | 1 study · 85 participants | Very low |
Zinc vs placebo Time to fever abatement · children with measles and pneumonia Zinc supplementation for the treatment of measles in children (2017) · Cochrane | HR 1.08 [0.67, 1.74] | 1 study · 78 participants | Very low |
Monotherapy vs combination therapy All‐cause mortality; · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | OR 0.97 [0.73, 1.3] | 4 studies · 1163 participants | Moderate |
Monotherapy vs combination therapy Clinical cure (ITT) · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | OR 0.88 [0.56, 1.36] | 2 studies · 350 participants | Very low |
Monotherapy vs combination therapy Clinical cure (CE) · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | OR 0.97 [0.56, 1.68] | 2 studies · 228 participants | Very low |
Monotherapy vs combination therapy Adverse events · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | OR 0.93 [0.68, 1.26] | 2 studies · 921 participants | Moderate |
Monotherapy vs combination therapy Length of ICU stay · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 2 studies · 813 participants | Moderate |
Carbapenems vs non‐carbapenems All‐cause mortality; · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | OR 0.59 [0.3, 1.19] | 1 study · 253 participants | Moderate |
Carbapenems vs non‐carbapenems Clinical cure (ITT) · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | OR 1.53 [1.11, 2.12] | 3 studies · 598 participants | Moderate |
Carbapenems vs non‐carbapenems Clinical cure (CE) · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | OR 2.29 [1.19, 4.43] | 2 studies · 163 participants | Moderate |
Carbapenems vs non‐carbapenems Adverse events · Ventilator‐associated pneumonia Antibiotics for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (2016) · Cochrane | OR 0.78 [0.56, 1.09] | 3 studies · 1510 participants | Low |
Maintenance fluids vs restricted fluids Death ‐ all participants · paediatric patients with acute bacterial meningitis Fluid therapy for acute bacterial meningitis (2016) · Cochrane | RR 0.82 [0.53, 1.27] | 2 studies · 407 participants | Low |
Maintenance fluids vs restricted fluids Severe neurological sequelae ‐ acute (within the first 4 weeks) · paediatric patients with acute bacterial meningitis Fluid therapy for acute bacterial meningitis (2016) · Cochrane | RR 0.67 [0.41, 1.08] | 2 studies · 407 participants | Low |
Maintenance fluids vs restricted fluids Severe neurological sequelae ‐ chronic (after the first 4 weeks) · paediatric patients with acute bacterial meningitis Fluid therapy for acute bacterial meningitis (2016) · Cochrane | RR 0.42 [0.2, 0.89] | 1 study · 351 participants | Very low |
Intervention NR Influenza · People aged 60 or older living in long‐term care institutions Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who care for people aged 60 or older living in long‐term care… (2016) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 2 studies · 752 participants | Low |
Intervention NR Lower respiratory tract infection · People aged 60 or older living in long‐term care institutions Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who care for people aged 60 or older living in long‐term care… (2016) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 1 study · 1059 participants | Moderate |
Intervention NR Admission to hospital for respiratory illness · People aged 60 or older living in long‐term care institutions Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who care for people aged 60 or older living in long‐term care… (2016) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 1 study · 3400 participants | Low |
Intervention NR Deaths from influenza or its complications · People aged 60 or older living in long‐term care institutions Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who care for people aged 60 or older living in long‐term care… (2016) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 2 studies · 4459 participants | Very low |
Intervention NR Deaths from all causes · People aged 60 or older living in long‐term care institutions Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who care for people aged 60 or older living in long‐term care… (2016) · Cochrane | no estimate extracted | 4 studies · 8468 participants | Very low |
Zinc supplementation vs placebo Pneumonia incidence · children aged 2 months to 59 months Zinc supplementation for the prevention of pneumonia in children aged 2 months to 59 months (2016) · Cochrane | RR 0.87 [0.81, 0.94] | 6 studies · 5193 participants | Low |
Zinc supplementation vs placebo Pneumonia prevalence · children aged 2 months to 59 months Zinc supplementation for the prevention of pneumonia in children aged 2 months to 59 months (2016) · Cochrane | RR 0.59 [0.35, 0.99] | 1 study · 609 participants | Low |
Xylitol vs control Final diagnosis of at least one episode of AOM · preventing acute otitis media in children up to 12 years of age Xylitol for preventing acute otitis media in children up to 12 years of age (2016) · Cochrane | RR 0.75 [0.65, 0.88] | 3 studies · 1826 participants | Moderate |