Table 4 GRADE domains and overall certainty of evidence for the effects of exercise training on the outcomes
Outcome | Certainty assessment | No of patients | Effect | Certainty | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No of studies | Study design | Risk of bias | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Other considerations | Exercise training | No training | Absolute (95% CI) | |||
Growth hormone | 4 | Randomized trials | Serious a,b,c | Not serious | Not serious | Serious d | None | 83 | 74 | MD 0.48 ng/mL higher (− 0.02 lower to 0.99 higher) | ⨁⨁◯◯ LOW | |
IGF-I | 4 | Randomized trials | Serious a,b,c | Not serious | Not serious | Serious d | Publication bias strongly suspected e | 61 | 58 | MD − 22.9 ng/mL lower (− 47.9 lower to 2.1 higher) | ⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW | |
Testosterone | 7 | Randomized trials | Serious a,b,c | Serious f | Not serious | Serious d | None | 97 | 92 | MD 0.84 nmol/L higher (− 0.2 lower to 1.9 higher) | ⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW | |
SHBG | 3 | Randomized trials | Serious a,c | Serious f | Not serious | Serious d | Publication bias strongly suspected e | 31 | 28 | MD − 5.5 nmol/L lower (− 19.4 lower to 8.2 higher) | ⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW | |
Cortisol | 5 | Randomized trials | Serious a,c,g | Very serious h | Not serious | Serious d | None | 63 | 62 | MD 17.4 nmol/L lower (− 88.5 lower to 53.7 higher) | ⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW | |
IL-6 | 3 | Randomized trials | Serious a,c,i | Serious f | Not serious | Serious d | None | Statistical pooling was not possible for this variable | ⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW | |||
TNF-α | 3 | Randomized trials | Serious a,c,i | Serious f | Not serious | Serious d | None | Statistical pooling was not possible for this variable | ⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW | |||