Table 1.
Study characteristics for the included studies
| Study ID | Study setting | Total no. of patients | Age (range) | Male: female | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAR group | APR group | LAR group | APR group | LAR group | APR group | ||
| Chambers 2010 [8] | United kingdom | 93 | 70 | 67.1 (38.4–86.4) | 63.5 (32–83.4) | 69:24 | 39:31 |
| Chuwa 2006 [11] | Singapore | 677 | 93 | 65 (22–89) | 64 (33–93) | 392:285 | 52:41 |
| He 2002 [18] | China | 128 | 356 | 41.6 (27–61) | 58 (35–84) | 72:56 | 214:142 |
| Heald 1997 [16] | United kingdom | 105 | 31 | 62.7 (27–97) | 62.7 (27–97) | NS | NS |
| Kim 2012 [12] | South Korea | 402 | 402 | 54 (45–63) | 54 (44–64) | 238:164 | 237:165 |
| Law 2001 [17] | Hong Kong | 123 | 57 | 63.6 (25–83) | 65.0 (26–86) | 71:52 | 36:21 |
| Li 2006 [6] | China | 244 | 355 | NS | NS | 125:119 | 197:158 |
| Li 2009 [19] | China | 53 | 25 | 61 (35–79) | 65 (43–75) | 31:26 | 19:9 |
| Marr 2005 [9] | United kingdom | 355 | 181 | NS | NS | NS | NS |
| Nagtegaal 2005 [5] | United kingdom | 205 | 453 | 63.9 (27–85) | 64.6 (25–87) | 97:108 | 254:199 |
| Wibe 2004 [15] | Norway | 1,315 | 821 | NS | NS | 859:456 | 478:343 |
| Shihab 2010 [7] | United kingdom | 81 | 72 | 67.3 | 64.8 | 54:27 | 51:21 |
| Campos-Lobato 2011 [10] | USA | 85 | 68 | 55 (45–61) | 63 (54–74) | 23:27 | 26:38 |
NS Not stated, LAR Low anterior resection APR Abdominoperineal resection