Table 3. Subgroup meta-analysis of RF and RA patient response according to different anti-TNFα agents, follow-up periods, response criteria, and ethnic groups.
| Test of association | Test of heterogeneity | ||||||||
| Subgroup | Population | No. of studies | No. of patients | RR | 95%CI | P value | Model | P value | I2 |
| overall | 12 | 5374 | 0.98 | 0.91–1.05 | 0.54 | R | 0.05 | 43% | |
| Anti-TNFα agent* | infliximab | 4 | 1827 | 1.03 | 0.89–1.19 | 0.71 | R | 0.28 | 23% |
| adalimumab | 2 | 248 | 0.98 | 0.81–1.18 | 0.8 | R | 0.09 | 65% | |
| etanercept | 1 | 1267 | 1.05 | 0.97–1.12 | 0.21 | NA | NA | NA | |
| golimumab | 1 | 178 | 1.54 | 0.93–2.55 | 0.09 | NA | NA | NA | |
| Follow up period | ≥6 months | 9 | 5017 | 0.96 | 0.90–1.03 | 0.27 | R | 0.13 | 37% |
| <6 months | 3 | 357 | 1.25 | 0.87–1.78 | 0.22 | R | 0.11 | 54% | |
| Ethnic group | European | 10 | 5146 | 0.98 | 0.91–1.06 | 0.59 | R | 0.10 | 39% |
| South American | 1 | 50 | 0.89 | 0.76–1.06 | 0.19 | NA | NA | NA | |
R, random-effects model; NA, not applicable.
*The number of studies and number of patients receiving individual anti-TNFα agent in this table are those that we could identified after literature review and contacting the authors.