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. 2014 Nov 3;9(11):e111868. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111868

Figure 2. Forest plot of relative risk and 95% confidence interval for Blastocystis carriage in IBS subjects.

Figure 2

The horizontal lines represent the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the relative risk (RR) for IBS subjects compared to non-IBS subjects in each study. The black box in the middle of the CI represents the single best estimate of RR in that study. The width of the CI is related to the power of the study and inversely associated with sample size. In addition, the pooled or combined RR results of the meta-analysis are represented by a diamond, the width of which is the CI for the pooled data. The vertical line is typically displayed to indicate no effect when RR = 1. When the CI crosses the vertical line of no effect, we must accept the null hypothesis of no difference between two groups. Only if the CI remains clear of the vertical line of no effect can we reject the null hypothesis. In our study, the RR for IBS subjects to carry Blastocystis was 2.336 (p = 0.001).