The certainty of the evidence in oral health has not improved according to GRADE: a meta-epidemiological study.

Seehra, Jadbinder; Bertl, Kristina; Faggion, Clovis Mariano; Pandis, Nikolaos (2022). The certainty of the evidence in oral health has not improved according to GRADE: a meta-epidemiological study. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 142, pp. 29-37. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.10.016

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OBJECTIVE

The aim of this meta-epidemiological study was to provide an update of the certainty of the evidence in oral health by using the GRADE rating reported in oral health Cochrane systematic reviews (CSR).

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

All interventional oral health CSR published between 2003-2021 were sourced. Study characteristics were extracted at the level of the CSR and the outcome/meta-analysis. One-hundred-five CSR were eligible and analysed.

RESULTS

Almost a third of CSR (n=67) were excluded as a GRADE rating was not available. The most prevalent type of primary studies included in the CSR were randomized studies (93.4%) and the most used measure of effect was the risk ratio (67.3%). Overall, the certainty of the evidence according to the GRADE rating for all examined outcomes was very low/low (88%). The two most common reasons for downgrading the confidence in the evidence were study limitations (Risk of bias) and imprecision. The odds of moderate/high vs. low/very low-GRADE rating are higher for the primary compared to the secondary outcomes after adjusting for year and number of trials (OR 2.49; 95% CI: 1.09, 5.65; P=0.02). Per year (2010-2021 period) the odds of moderate/high vs. low/very low-GRADE rating decrease (OR 0.73; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.90; P=0.01), and as the number of trials per comparison increase the odds of moderate/high vs. low/very low GRADE rating increase (OR 1.13; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.25; P=0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The certainty of the evidence in oral health when assessed with the GRADE rating remains predominantly low or very low.

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