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Table 4 GRADE for quality of evidence profile

From: Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of primary hypertension: a methodology overview of systematic reviews

Study ID Outcomes (number of studies) Risk of bias Inconsistency Indirectness Imprecision Publication bias Quality of evidence
Chen 2014 [11] Overall antihypertensive effect (12) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Strongly suspectedb Low
Traditional Chinese symptom improved (4) Seriousa Seriousc No serious No serious Undetected Low
Decrease of C-reactive protein (1) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Strongly suspectedb Very low
Decrease of blood lipid (2) Seriousa Seriousc No serious Seriousd Undetected Very low
Decrease of serum uric acid homocysteine (2) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Strongly suspectede Very low
Adverse events (1) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Strongly suspectede Very low
Wang 2012 [12] Effect of cerebral hemorrhage (6) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Undetected Moderate
Nervous function defect of cerebral infarction score (8) Seriousa Seriousc No serious No serious Undetected Low
Adverse events (5) Seriousa Seriousc No serious No serious Undetected Low
Guo 2013 [13] Overall antihypertensive effect (9) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Undetected Moderate
Zhou 2012 [22] Overall antihypertensive effect (6) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Undetected Moderate
Traditional Chinese symptom improved (4) Seriousa Seriousc No serious No serious Undetected Low
safety (5) Seriousa Seriousc No serious No serious Undetected Low
Dong 2011 [23] Overall antihypertensive effect (6) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Strongly suspectedb Low
safety (2) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Strongly suspectede Very low
Ren 2006 [24] Overall antihypertensive effect (11) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Strongly suspectedb Low
Dai 2010 [25] Decrease of systolic blood pressure (9) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Undetected Low
Decrease of diastolic blood pressure (9) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Undetected Low
Du 2014 [26] Relief of hypertensive headache (10) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Strongly suspectedb Low
Relief of hypertensive dizziness (5) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Strongly suspectedb Low
Relief of hypertensive insomnia (3) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Strongly suspectedb Very low
Li 2012 [27] Overall antihypertensive effect (17) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Strongly suspectedb Low
Traditional Chinese symptom improved (6) Seriousa No serious No serious No serious Strongly suspectedb Low
Changes of pulse pressure (4) Seriousa Seriousc No serious Seriousd Undetected Very low
Xiong 2012 [28] Decrease of systolic blood pressure (3) Seriousa Seriousc No serious Seriousd Undetected Very low
Decrease of diastolic blood pressure (3) Seriousa Seriousc No serious Seriousd Undetected Very low
Adverse events (4) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Undetected Low
Wang 2013 [29] Decrease of systolic blood pressure (3) Seriousa Seriousc No serious No serious Undetected Low
Decrease of diastolic blood pressure (3) Seriousa Seriousc No serious No serious Undetected Low
Wu 2013 [30] Plasma superoxide dismutase increase (3) Seriousa No serious No serious Seriousd Undetected Low
Overall antihypertensive effect (9) Seriousa Seriousc No serious No serious Undetected Low
  1. aUnclear random sequence generation, allocation concealment blinding not done in all studies
  2. bStatistical test for publication bias was underpowered
  3. cI2 >50 %
  4. dInsufficient sample size and wide confidence interval
  5. eIncomplete retrieval for unpublished studies and gray literature
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Systematic Reviews

ISSN: 2046-4053