Table 4 Characteristics of seven statistically significant age-treatment interactions reported by authors
From: Age-treatment subgroup analyses in Cochrane intervention reviews: a meta-epidemiological study
Comparison | Population characteristics | Outcome | Primary outcome* | Specified in methods?†| Reported age subgroup levels | Effect size [95% CI]‡ | RCTs per subgroup level | RCTs across all levels§ | P value | Biological/clinical rationale¶ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Botulinum toxin vs surgery (2017) | Children and adults with strabismus suitable for treatment with botulinum toxin to align the angle of deviation | Improved ocular alignment ≤ 10 prism dioptres | Yes | No | Children | RR 0.91 [0.71, 1.16] | 2 | 0 | 0.04 | No |
Adults | RR 0.38 [0.17, 0.85] | 1 | ||||||||
Digital intervention vs no/minimal intervention (2017) | Individuals in the community with hazardous or harmful alcohol consumptions directed toward any digital intervention | Quantity of drinking (grams/week), based on the longest follow-up | Yes | Yes | Adolescents/young adults | MD − 13.44 [− 19.27, − 7.61] | 28 | 0 | 0.002 | No |
Adults | MD − 56.05 [− 82.08, − 30.02] | 14 | ||||||||
Supplementary feeding vs comparator by age of children (2012) | Children from low- and middle-income countries born at term, from birth to 5 years old | Weight gain (kg) during the intervention | Yes | Yes | Children younger than 24 months | MD − 0.01 [− 0.09, 0.07] | 4 | 0 | 0.008 | No |
Children older than 24 months | MD 0.22 [0.07, 0.37] | 1 | ||||||||
Diet plus physical activity vs comparator (2017) | Individuals diagnosed with intermediate hyperglycemia or prediabetes at increased risk of developing type II diabetes mellitus | Incidence of type 2 diabetes | Yes | Yes | Ages < 50 years | RR 0.70 [0.57, 0.85] | 2 | 0 | 0.009 | No |
Ages ≥ 50 years | RR 0.50 [0.44, 0.58] | 9 | ||||||||
2-h plasma glucose | No | Yes | Ages < 50 years | MD − 1.62 [− 2.49, − 0.76] | 2 | 0 | 0.003 | No | ||
Ages ≥ 50 years | MD − 0.27 [− 0.49, − 0.05] | 7 | ||||||||
Colony-stimulating factor plus antibiotics vs antibiotics alone (2014) | Individuals undergoing chemotherapy for cancer who experienced neutropenia and fever | Time to neutrophil recovery | No | Yes | Children | RR 0.80 [0.66, 0.97] | 1 | 0 | 0.02 | No |
Adults | RR 0.45 [0.29, 0.70] | 5 | ||||||||
Fluticasone propionate vs beclomethasone dipropionate or budesonide, parallel-group studies: dose ratio 1:2 subgroup by age (2007) | Children (> 2 years) and adults with a clinical diagnosis of asthma | Change in Forced Expiratory Volume 1 compared to baseline | Unclear | Yes | Children | MD − 0.04 [− 0.10, 0.02] | 2 | 0 | 0.02 | No |
Adults | MD 0.04 [0.00 0.08] | 10 |