. 2024 Jul 20;16(14):2597. doi: 10.3390/cancers16142597

Table 5.

Asymmetry and heterogeneity tests for publication bias: subgroups of chemotoxicity.

Study Sub-Variables	Studies n; Total Sample n	Pooled Prevalence by Rank (%: 95% CI) ^a	Asymmetry Tests				Heterogeneity Tests between Studies
			Begg’s Test		Egger’s Test		Heterogeneity Tests between Studies
			Kendall’s T	p ^b	SE	p ^c	Q_df _Between	I² (%)_Between	p ^b_Between
Pooled Prevalence of Moderate-to-Severe Chemotoxicity
Non-Hematological Toxicity	16; n = 6602	39.2 (33.7 to 44.7)	0.34	0.600	40.9	0.943	121.69₁₅	88.56	0.033
Hematological Toxicity	19; n = 6882	25.3 (19.4 to 31.5)	0.29	0.491	20.5	0.423	132.65₁₈	93.79	0.049
Pooled Prevalence of Moderate-to-Severe Chemotoxicity Subgroups
Abdominal pain	3; n = 1655	24.3 (2.01 to 60.1)	0.33	0.412	60.3	0.143	56.1₂	99.61	<0.001
GI Toxicity	20; n = 9489	22.9 (16.4 to 30.1)	0.23	0.598	20.40.	0.892	132.52₁₉	98.59	<0.001
Neuropathy	9; n = 5382	17.9 (4.9 to 36.5)	0.4/2	0.394	30.2	0.352	122.59₈	95.89	0.049
Neutropenia	14; n = 8227	17.9 (11.1 to 25.9)	0.51	0.341	50.3	0.422	144.65₁₃	98.51	<0.001
Nausea/Vomiting	10; n = 5089	17.8 (8.5 to 29.6)	0.41	0.535	50.6	0.314	69.5₉	98.66	<0.001
Diarrhea	18; n = 7209	14.1 (11.1 to 17.4)	0.31	0.591	40.4	0.289	144.01₁₇	98.11	<0.001
Leukocytosis	2; n = 2287	12.9 (0.4 to 38.2)	0.32	0.542	30.4	0.132	243.31₁	99.51	0.035
Fatigue	7; n = 2772	12.6 (4.6 to 23.7)	0.38	0.224	40.5	0.499	132.56₆	99.92	<0.001
Anemia	7; n = 2547	10.4 (4.5 to 18.3)	0.56	0.621	30.4	0.289	132.55₆	89.61	<0.001
Leukopenia	3; n = 4452	10.2 (3.6 to 19.6)	0.41	0.214	50.6	0.512	241.95₂	89.52	0.021
Mucositis/stomatitis	7; n = 2608	9.5 (2.9 to 18.7)	0.59	0.399	60.2	0.526	87.4₆	95.41	0.014
Hand-Foot-Syndrome	5; n = 700	9.0 (1.8 to 20.9)	0.16	0.841	60.5	0.431	353.17₄	97.84	0.019
Anorexia	5; n = 1804	6.4 (3.7 to 9.6)	0.41	0.412	50.4	0.122	101.42₄	99.41	<0.001
Coagulation disorders	2; n = 2757	4.9 (4.1 to 5.8)	0.33	0.312	50.5	0.082	99.49₁	89.59	<0.001
Constipation	2; n = 341	3.4 (1.8 to 5.6)	0.14	0.623	50.6	0.412	93.04₁	84.23	0.048
Pooled Prevalence of Mild Chemotoxicity
Overall Chemotoxicity	6; n = 1309	61.7 (48.0 to 74.6)	0.54	0.841	20.3	0.347	122.68₅	95.92	<0.001
Non-Hematological Toxicity	3; n = 473	50.1(21.1 to 78.9)	0.55	0.792	30.1	0.572	134.88₂	92.51	0.002
Hematological Toxicity	4; n = 913	22.1 (6.6 to 43.5)	0.41	0.852	20.9	0.123	156.41₃	85.91	0.024
Pooled Prevalence of Mild Chemotoxity Subgroups
Diarrhea	4; n = 956	58.9 (28.8 to 85.6)	0.41	0.312	20.4	0.312	111.31₃	78.41	0.048
Hand-Foot-Syndrome	2; n = 202	51.7 (0.4 to 98.8)	0.52	0.411	40.1	0.522	198.56₁	88.51	0.009
Anemia	3; n = 763	36.5 (1.5 to 84.9)	0.33	0.012	20.3	0.731	153.66₂	94.55	0.014
Mucositis/stomatitis	3; n = 884	28.6 (7.2 to 57.0)	0.28	0.102	40.9	0.341	142.65₂	93.41	<0.001
Neutropenia	3; n = 884	25.7 (6.2 to 52.3)	0.62	0.531	50.3	0.512	166.24₂	99.79	<0.001
Nausea/Vomiting	3; n = 1572	18.3 (0.6 to 52.3)	0.38	0.512	20.5	0.823	143.66₂	95.12	<0.001
Fatigue	2; n = 492	17.1 (0.5 to 63.7)	0.12	0.312	20.4	0.623	98.42₁	98.55	0.032
Coagulation disorders	2; n = 1422	4.3 (0.7 to 10.7)	0.52	0.432	20.3	0.412	102.03₁	85.66	0.045

Note: CIs: confidence intervals; GI: gastrointestinal; df = degree of freedom; and SE: standard error. ^a Weighted effect size and standard error were applied, resulting in pooled estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). ^b p < 0.05 considered significant publication bias. ^c p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.