Synopses+

Structured synopses with evidence tables (Synopses+), written by either medical writers or Zynx Health clinicians, are presented for selected treatment and diagnostic articles that meet class A or M criteria.

Structured synopses for Class A treatment articles include the following elements:

• Study design
• Total number of subjects (intention-to-treat analysis is preferentially used)
• Population studied (including age inclusion criteria when available)
• Treatments compared
• Primary outcome(s)
• Summary of results based on the evidence table

Evidence tables for Class A treatment articles are focused on primary dichotomous outcomes:

• The results for primary dichotomous outcomes as specified in the article are presented in the evidence table and may include the number needed to treat (NNT), number needed to harm (NNH), absolute risk reduction (ARR), absolute risk increase (ARI), absolute benefit reduction (ABR), absolute benefit increase (ABI), relative risk (RR), odds ratio (OR), and relative risk reduction (RRR); P values and 95% confidence intervals (CI) are specified when available.
• When primary dichotomous outcomes are not specified in the article, only the results that are statistically significant at the 0.05 level (P<0.05, a 95% CI that does not include the null hypothesis, or non-overlapping 95% CIs between the treatments compared) are presented in the evidence table; results that are labeled as "significant" in the article without an accompanying P value or 95% CI are also presented in the evidence table.
• If not stated in the article, the absolute risks or absolute benefits are calculated and presented in the evidence table when sufficient data from the article is available. Multivariate point estimates are preferentially used over unadjusted raw data.
• If not stated in the article, the ARR, ARI, ABR, ABI, NNT, and NNH are calculated and presented in the evidence table when a statistically significant difference at the 0.05 level in absolute risks or absolute benefits is reported between the treatments compared (P<0.05, a 95% CI that does not include the null hypothesis, or non-overlapping 95% CIs between the treatments compared).

Structured synopses for Class M treatment articles include the following elements:

• Study design
• Total number of studies included in the meta-analysis
• Total number of subjects (intention-to-treat analysis is preferentially used)
• Population studied (including age inclusion criteria when available)
• Treatments compared
• Primary outcome(s)
• Summary of results based on the evidence table

Evidence tables for Class M treatment articles are focused on primary dichotomous outcomes:

• The results for primary dichotomous outcomes as specified in the article are presented in the evidence table and may include the NNT, NNH, ARR, ARI, ABR, ABI, RR, OR, and RRR; P values and 95% CIs are specified when available.
• When primary dichotomous outcomes are not specified in the article, only the results that are statistically significant at the 0.05 level (P<0.05, a 95% CI that does not include the null hypothesis, or non-overlapping 95% CIs between the treatments compared) are presented in the evidence table; results that are labeled as "significant" in the article without an accompanying P value or 95% CI are also presented in the evidence table.

Structured synopses for Class A or M diagnostic articles include the following elements:

• Study design
• Total number of studies included in the meta-analysis (if applicable)
• Total number of subjects (intention-to-treat analysis is preferentially used)
• Population studied (including age inclusion criteria when available)
• Test(s) evaluated
• Reference standard

Evidence tables for Class A or M diagnostic articles are focused on primary outcomes:

• The results as reported in the article are presented in the evidence table and may include the area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV); P values and 95% CI are specified when available.
• If not stated in the article, the LR(+) and LR(-) are calculated and presented in the evidence table when both sensitivity and specificity are reported for a diagnostic test.