Table 2 Assessment of certainty of evidence
Outcomes | No. of participants: Control/ Experimental (Studies) | Study design | Risk of bias (high risk of bias: ↓) | Inconsistency (I2 > 50%: ↓) | Indirectness (not clinically assessed: ↓) | Imprecision (CI effect size range > 2: ↓) | presence of publication bias (Yes: | Effect size (> 2.5:  ↑) | Dose–response present (↑) | plausible residual confounding present (↑) | Certainty (high, moderate, low, very low) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Depression | |||||||||||
SJC versus conventional treatment | 120/120 (2) | RCT | High 2/2 ↓ | 98% ↓ | Not serious | [-0.21, 5.12] ↓ | Not detected* | 2.45 ↑ | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |
SJC plus AED versus conventional treatment | 217/219 (5) | RCT | High 5/5 ↓ | 91%↓ | Not serious | [0.28, 1.63] | Not detected* | 0.96 | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |
SJC plus AED, AD versus conventional treatment | 87/87(2) | RCT | High 2/2 ↓ | Not applicable** | Not serious | [0.17, 1.57] | Not detected* | 0.87 | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |
Frequency of seizure | |||||||||||
SJC versus conventional treatment | 68/68(1) | RCT | High 1/1 ↓ | Not applicable** | Not serious | [0.28, 0.50] | Not detected* | 0.39 | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |
SJC plus AED versus conventional treatment | 149/151(4) | RCT | High 4/4 ↓ | 87% ↓ | Not serious | [-0.28, 0.69] | Not detected* | 0.20 | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |
Quality of life | |||||||||||
SJC versus conventional treatment | 52/52(1) | RCT | High 1/1 ↓ | Not applicable ** | Not serious | [10.55, 12.95] ↓ | Not detected* | 11.75 ↑ | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |
SJC plus AED versus conventional treatment | 77/72(2) | RCT | High 2/2 ↓ | 95% ↓ | Not serious | [-24.10, 8.16] ↓ | Not detected* | -7.97 ↑ | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |
SJC plus AED, AD versus conventional treatment | 87/87(2) | RCT | High 2/2 ↓ | Not applicable** | Not serious | [12.34, 21.18] ↓ | Not detected* | 16.76 ↑ | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |
Adverse events | |||||||||||
SJC versus control | 338/339(8) | RCT | High 8/8 ↓ | 19% | Not serious | [0.70, 2.26] | Not detected* | 1.26 | No | No | ⊕⊖⊖⊖ Very low |