Cochrane · systematic review · CD012629
Intramuscular versus oral corticosteroids to reduce relapses following discharge from the emergency department for acute asthma
Kirkland, SW, Cross, E, Campbell, S, et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2018 · Cochrane Library
AirwaysAMSTAR 2: not assessed
SoF tableOnly the outcomes this review put in its Summary of Findings table are listed (the Cochrane Handbook caps them at about seven per comparison). Its other analyses are not shown here.
Questions
7
current version
GRADE rated
7
No studies
0
Included studies
NR
No studies 0 · 0%Ungraded 0 · 0%Very low 0 · 0%Low 5 · 71.4%Moderate 2 · 28.6%High 0 · 0%
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.
Questions and results
Intramuscular corticosteroids compared to Oral corticosteroids for acute asthma
Population: patients with acute asthma
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Relapse Intramuscular corticosteroids vs Oral corticosteroids | RR 0.94 [0.72, 1.24] | 9 studies · 804 participants | Low Downgraded: risk of bias, imprecision |
Relapse within 10 days post‐discharge Intramuscular corticosteroids vs Oral corticosteroids | RR 0.74 [0.51, 1.07] | 7 studies · 742 participants | Moderate Downgraded: risk of bias |
Relapse occurring after 10 days post‐discharge Intramuscular corticosteroids vs Oral corticosteroids | RR 0.99 [0.74, 1.33] | 5 studies · 556 participants | Low Downgraded: risk of bias, imprecision |
Adverse events Intramuscular corticosteroids vs Oral corticosteroids | RR 0.83 [0.64, 1.07] | 5 studies · 404 participants | Low Downgraded: risk of bias, imprecision |
Pulmonary function: Peak expiratory flow Intramuscular corticosteroids vs Oral corticosteroids | no estimate extracted | 4 studies · 272 participants | Moderate Downgraded: imprecision |
Symptom persistence Intramuscular corticosteroids vs Oral corticosteroids | RR 0.41 [0.14, 1.2] | 3 studies · 80 participants | Low Downgraded: risk of bias, imprecision |
24‐hour beta agonist use Intramuscular corticosteroids vs Oral corticosteroids | RR 0.54 [0.21, 1.37] | 2 studies · 48 participants | Low Downgraded: risk of bias, imprecision |