Continuous outcomes Continuous outcomes were analysed using an inverse variance method for pooling weighted mean differences. These outcomes included: heath-related quality of life (HRQoL) Time to death Change in exercise capacity Improvement in exercise tolerance Change in haemoglobin in anaemic patients Improvement in ejection fraction Change in dyspnoea Weight change or change in oedema Change in sodium level Where the studies within a single meta-analysis had different scales of measurement, standardised mean differences were used (providing all studies reported either change from baseline or final values rather than a mixture of both); each different measure in each study was normalised to the Chronic Heart Failure Methods NICE 2018. All rights reserved. Subject to Notice of rights. ISBN: 978-1-4731-3093-7 standard deviation value pooled between the intervention and comparator groups in that same study. The means and standard deviations of continuous outcomes are required for meta-analysis. However, in cases where standard deviations were not reported, the standard error was calculated if the p values or 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were reported, and meta-analysis was undertaken with the mean and standard error using the generic inverse variance method in Cochrane Review software. Where p values were reported as less than , a conservative approach was undertaken. For example, if a p value was reported as p 0.001 , the calculations for standard deviations were based on a p value of 0.001. If these statistical measures were not available then the methods described in section 16.1.3 of the Cochrane Handbook (version 5.1.0, updated March 2011) were applied. 