GRADE analysis including quality assessment, summary of findings and certainty in estimates of prevalence of chronic pain in spinal cord injury
| ISCIP category no of studies | Quality assessment | Summary of findings | Certainty in prevalence estimates | |||||
| Limitations | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Publication bias | Pooled prevalence (95% CI) | No of patients | ||
| Total (all categories) | ||||||||
| 37 | Limitations were minimal in most studies, related primarily to population sample selection and non-response bias | High degree of statistical heterogeneity (I2=97%) | No serious indirectness | No serious imprecision | Undetected | 68% (63% to 73%) | 11 351 | ++Low |
| Neuropathic | ||||||||
| 13 | Limitations were minimal in most studies, related primarily to population sample selection and non-response bias | High degree of statistical heterogeneity (I2=97%) | No serious indirectness | No serious imprecision | Undetected | 58% (49% to 68%) | 3512 | ++Low |
| Nociceptive | ||||||||
| Visceral | ||||||||
| 8 | Limitations were minimal | High degree of statistical heterogeneity (I2=95%) | No serious indirectness | No serious imprecision | Undetected | 56% (41% to 70%) | 1430 | ++Low |
| Musculoskeletal | ||||||||
| 11 | Limitations were minimal in most studies, primarily related to external validity | High degree of statistical heterogeneity (I2=98%) | No serious indirectness | No serious imprecision | Undetected | 20% (11% to 29%) | 2427 | ++Low |
| Other | ||||||||
| 2 | Limitations were minimal | High degree of statistical heterogeneity (I2=98%) | No serious indirectness | Serious concern about imprecision due to small sample size | Undetected | 45% (13% to 78%) | 402 | +Very low |
GRADE, Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation; ISCIP, International Spinal Cord Injury Pain; No, number.