Table 4.
Meta-analysis of clinical variables comparing patients with progressive fibrosis v. nonprogressive fibrosis (reference).
| Risk Factor | No. of studies | OR (or weighted difference in means) | 95% CI | p-value | I2 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categorical variables | |||||
| Sex (Males v. females) | 7 | 0.75 | 0.44-1.28 | 0.29 | 2.2 |
| Diabetes (yes v. no) | 7 | 1.05 | 0.64-1.72 | 0.86 | 0.0 |
| Hypertension (yes v. no) | 5 | 1.94 | 1.00-3.74 | 0.05 | 0.0 |
| Metabolic syndrome (yes v. no) | 3 | 0.63 | 0.32-1.25 | 0.19 | 0.0 |
| Continuous variables | |||||
| Age (years) | 7 | 0.71 | −2.37 to 3.80 | 0.65 | 68.5 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 5 | 1.41 | −0.28 to 3.10 | 0.10 | 45.3 |
| AST (U/L) | 4 | 8.09 | −1.84 to 18.02 | 0.11 | 46.0 |
| ALT (U/L) | 7 | 7.60 | −6.97 to 22.17 | 0.31 | 73.3 |
| AST:ALT ratio | 4 | −0.08 | −0.16 to 0.00 | 0.06 | 0.0 |
| Platelet count (x109/L) | 3 | −2.72 | −56.82 to 51.38 | 0.92 | 83.1 |
| Ferritin (μg/L) | 3 | −77.15 | −368.6 to 214.3 | 0.60 | 76.8 |
| HOMA-IR | 4 | 0.11 | −1.05 to 1.27 | 0.86 | 96.8 |
[Abbreviations: ALT-alanine aminotransferase, AST-aspartate aminotransferase, BMI-body mass index, CI-confidence intervals, HOMA-IR-homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, I2-inconsistency index (low value indicates low heterogeneity), OR-odds ratio]