11.11.2012 Views

Artemisinin-based combination therapy for ... - The Cochrane Library

Artemisinin-based combination therapy for ... - The Cochrane Library

Artemisinin-based combination therapy for ... - The Cochrane Library

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

5 No serious indirectness: Trials were conducted in a variety of African countries with variable transmission and resistance patterns.<br />

Children aged < four months and pregnant or lactating women were excluded.<br />

6 Serious imprecision: <strong>The</strong> 95% CI of the pooled estimate includes appreciable benefit with ASAQ over AL6 and crosses the line of no<br />

effect.<br />

7 No serious limitations: Allocation concealment was assessed as ’low risk of bias’ in five trials. Sensitivity analysis removing the trials<br />

with inadequate allocation concealment did not substantially alter the result.<br />

8 Very serious inconsistency: Heterogeneity was high so data were not pooled. This heterogeneity seemed to be related to region<br />

(with trials from East Africa favouring AL6 and trials from West Africa favouring ASAQ) and transmission intensity (with two trials<br />

experiencing very high rates of new infections).<br />

9 Very serious imprecision: Data were not pooled due to heterogeneity. <strong>The</strong> effect estimate is likely to vary between settings.<br />

10 Only one trial reported P. vivax and there were too few events to draw a conclusion.<br />

11 Dorsey 2006 UGA had adequate allocation concealment and blinding. In Faye 2003 SEN no allocation concealment or blinding<br />

was described.<br />

12 Very serious inconsistency: Heterogeneity was high so data were not pooled.<br />

13 Trials were conducted in Senegal (moderate transmission) and Uganda (mesoendemic).<br />

14 Very serious imprecision: <strong>The</strong> two trials reporting this outcome had very different results.<br />

15 Very serious imprecision: <strong>The</strong> 95% CI of the pooled estimate includes appreciable benefit and harm with each drug over the other.<br />

16 Serious limitations: Four out of five trials were unblinded.<br />

Is Artemether-lumefantrine superior to Artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine <strong>for</strong> treating uncomplicated malaria?<br />

Patient or population: Patients with uncomplicated malaria<br />

Settings: Endemic areas worldwide<br />

Intervention: Artemether-lumefantrine<br />

Comparison: Artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine<br />

Outcomes Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI) Relative effect<br />

(95% CI)<br />

Efficacy: Total Failure<br />

(P. falciparum)<br />

Day 42 PCR adjusted<br />

Efficacy: Total Failure<br />

(P. falciparum)<br />

Day 42 PCR unad-<br />

Assumed risk Corresponding<br />

risk<br />

Artesunate plus<br />

sulfadoxinepyrimethamine<br />

Artemetherlumefantrine<br />

202 per 1000 67 per 1000<br />

(26 to 174)<br />

380 per 1000 369 per 1000<br />

(258 to 517)<br />

RR 0.33<br />

(0.13 to 0.86)<br />

RR 0.97<br />

(0.68 to 1.36)<br />

<strong>Artemisinin</strong>-<strong>based</strong> <strong>combination</strong> <strong>therapy</strong> <strong>for</strong> treating uncomplicated malaria (Review)<br />

Copyright © 2009 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Cochrane</strong> Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.<br />

No of participants<br />

(studies)<br />

158<br />

(1)<br />

217<br />

(1)<br />

Quality of the evidence<br />

(GRADE)<br />

⊕<br />

very low 1,2,3,4,5<br />

⊕<br />

very low 2,3,4,6<br />

256

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!