Table 3 Results of the quality of evidence assessment using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria
From: Effects of sodium bicarbonate supplementation on exercise performance: an umbrella review
Reference | GRADE items | Quality of the evidence* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Risk of bias | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Publication bias | ||
Carr et al. [13] | Unclear (no quality assessment performed) | Not serious | Serious indirectness (only 15% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Not serious | Undetected | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ |
Christensen et al. [14] | Not serious | Not serious | Serious indirectness (only 9% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Not serious | Strongly suspected (no “grey” literature searches; asymmetry of the funnel plot was not explored; the effect size of the largest study was smaller than the pooled estimate) | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ |
Grgic [15] | Peak power: not serious | Peak power: not serious | Peak power: serious indirectness (none of the participants included in the analysis were women) | Peak power: not serious | Peak power: undetected | Peak power: moderate ⊕ ⊕ ⊕Ο |
Mean power: not serious | Mean power: not serious | Mean power: serious indirectness (only 15% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Mean power: not serious | Mean power: undetected | Mean power: moderate ⊕ ⊕ ⊕Ο | |
Grgic et al. [16] | Not serious | Not serious | Serious indirectness (none of the participants included in the analysis were women) | Not serious | Undetected | Moderate ⊕ ⊕ ⊕Ο |
Grgic et al. [17] | Muscle endurance: not serious | Not serious | Serious indirectness (only 5% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Not serious | Strongly suspected (“grey” literature searches were performed; however, asymmetry of the funnel plot was not explored and the effect size of the largest study was smaller than the pooled estimate) | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ |
Muscle strength: not serious | Not serious | Serious indirectness (only 4% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Not serious | Undetected | Moderate ⊕ ⊕ ⊕Ο | |
Lopes-Silva et al. [18] | Total work: not serious | Total work: not serious | Total work: serious indirectness (only 28% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Total work: serious limitation | Total work: undetected | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ |
Best sprint: not serious | Best sprint: not serious | Best sprint: serious indirectness (only 23% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Best sprint: not serious | Best sprint: undetected | Moderate ⊕ ⊕ ⊕Ο | |
Last sprint: not serious | Last sprint: not serious | Last sprint: serious indirectness (only 23% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Last sprint: not serious | Last sprint: undetected | Moderate ⊕ ⊕ ⊕Ο | |
Lopes-Silva et al. [19] | Acute ingestion, peak power: not serious | Acute ingestion, peak power: not serious | Acute ingestion, peak power: serious indirectness (none of the participants included in the analysis were women) | Acute ingestion, peak power: not serious | Acute ingestion, peak power: strongly suspected (no “grey” literature searches; asymmetry of the funnel plot was not explored; the effect size of the largest study was similar to the pooled estimate) | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ |
Acute ingestion, mean power: not serious | Acute ingestion, mean power: not serious | Acute ingestion, mean power: serious indirectness (none of the participants included in the analysis were women) | Acute ingestion, mean power: not serious | Acute ingestion, mean power: strongly suspected (no “grey” literature searches; asymmetry of the funnel plot was not explored; the effect size of the largest study was similar to the pooled estimate) | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ | |
Multi-day ingestion, peak power: not serious | Multi-day ingestion, peak power: not serious | Multi-day ingestion, peak power: serious indirectness (none of the participants included in the analysis were women) | Multi-day ingestion, peak power: not serious | Multi-day ingestion, peak power: strongly suspected (no “grey” literature searches; asymmetry of the funnel plot was not explored; the effect size of the largest study was similar to the pooled estimate) | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ | |
Multi-day ingestion, mean power: not serious | Multi-day ingestion, mean power: not serious | Multi-day ingestion, mean power: serious indirectness (none of the participants included in the analysis were women) | Multi-day ingestion, mean power: not serious | Multi-day ingestion, mean power: strongly suspected (no “grey” literature searches; asymmetry of the funnel plot was not explored; the effect size of the largest study was similar to the pooled estimate) | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ | |
Turnes et al. [20] | Unclear (no quality assessment performed) | Not serious | Serious indirectness (only 10% of participants included in the analysis were women) | Not serious | Undetected | Low ⊕ ⊕ ΟΟ |