Tai Chi for treating cancer-related fatigue: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Table 7 GRADE evidence quality rating results

Quality assessment							No. of patients		Effect	Quality
Number of studies	Study design	Risk of bias	Inconsistency	Indirectness	Imprecision	Other considerations	Tai Chi intervention	Control	Std. mean difference (95%CI)
Cancer-related fatigue
9	Randomized trials	Not serious	Serious1	Not serious	Not serious	None	331	328	SMD -1.29; (-1.72, -0.85)	Moderate
Sleep quality
2	Randomized trials	Not serious	Not serious	Not serious	Serious2	None	75	71	SMD -0.45; (-0.78, -0.12)	Moderate
Quality of life
3	Randomized trials	Not serious	Serious3	Not serious	Serious2	None	122	121	SMD 0.70; (0.23, 1.16)	Low

¹Due to significant heterogeneity among studies (I² = 84%, P < 0.00001), the evidence grade was downgraded by one level owing to serious inconsistency.

²Given the small sample size and limited data, we downgraded the evidence for imprecision by one level.

³Due to significant heterogeneity among studies (I² = 68%, P = 0.003), the evidence grade was downgraded by one level owing to serious inconsistency.

SMD: Standardised mean difference.