Table 2 Evidence profiles for selected health outcomes related to intensive vs. standard follow-up in breast cancer patients
Quality assessment | No. of patients | Effect | Quality | Importance | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of studies | Study design | Risk of bias | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Other considerations | Intensive follow-up | Non-intensive follow-up | Relative (95% CI) | Absolute (95% CI) | ||
10-year overall mortality in women with breast cancer | ||||||||||||
1 | RCT | not serious | not serious | not serious | not serious | none | 222/622 (35.7%) | 212/621 (34.1%) | RR 1.05 | 17 more per 1000 | ⨁⨁⨁⨁ | CRITICAL |
Palli 1999 | (0.90 to 1.22) | (from 34 fewer to 75 more) | HIGH | |||||||||
5-year overall mortality in women with breast cancer | ||||||||||||
3 | RCT | not serious | not serious | not serious | not serious | none | 277/1520 (18.2%) | 277/1515 (18.3%) | RR 1.00 | 0 fewer per 1000 | ⨁⨁⨁⨁ | CRITICAL |
Rosselli del Turco 1994 | (0.86 to 1.16) | (from 26 fewer to 29 more) | HIGH | |||||||||
GIVIO 1994 | ||||||||||||
Kokko 2003 | ||||||||||||
5-year recurrence of breast cancer | ||||||||||||
3 | RCT | serious1 | not serious | not serious | not serious | none | 460/1520 (30.3%) | 414/1515 (27.3%) | RR 1.08 | 22 more per 1000 | ⨁⨁⨁ ◯ | CRITICAL |
Rosselli del Turco 1994 | (0.89 to 1.30) | (from 30 fewer to 82 more) | MODERATE | |||||||||
GIVIO 1994 | ||||||||||||
Kokko 2003 | ||||||||||||
Any time recurrence of breast cancer (follow up: range 1 to 5 years) | ||||||||||||
5 | RCT | serious1 | not serious | not serious | not serious | none | 475/1609 (29.5%) | 427/1608 (26.6%) | RR 1.10 | 27 more per 1000 | ⨁⨁⨁ ◯ | CRITICAL |
Rosselli del Turco 1994 | (0.95 to 1.27) | (from 13 fewer to 72 more) | MODERATE | |||||||||
GIVIO 1994 | ||||||||||||
Brown 2002 | ||||||||||||
Kokko 2003 | ||||||||||||
Oltra 2007 | ||||||||||||
Satisfaction of women with the type of follow-up - Reassurance (follow-up: range 1 to 3 years) | ||||||||||||
2 | RCT | serious1 | very serious2 | not serious | not serious | none | 92/127 (72.4%) | 72/127 (56.7%) | RR 1.28 | 159 more per 1000 | ⨁ ◯◯◯ | IMPORTANT |
Brown 2002 | (1.07 to 1.54) | (from 40 more to 306 more) | VERY LOW | |||||||||
Gulliford 1997 | ||||||||||||
Satisfaction of women with the type of follow-up - Convenience (follow-up: mean 1 year) | ||||||||||||
1 | RCT | serious1 | not serious | not serious | not serious | none | 1/31 (3.2%) | 22/30 (73.3%) | RR 0.04 | 704 fewer per 1000 | ⨁ ⨁◯◯ | IMPORTANT |
Brown 2002 | (0.01 to 0.31) | (from 506 fewer to 726 fewer) | LOW | |||||||||