Table 2. Baseline characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.

Study	Design	Country or area	No. of cases	No. of controls	Detection method	HBV genotype	Matching factors				Quality score
							Age	Sex	HbeAg status	HBV genotype
Asim 2010	PCC	India	150	136	SSCP	A, D	-	-	-	-	≤4
Bahramali 2008	Cohort	Iran	7	55	Sequencing	D	-	-	-	-	≤4
Bai 2011	Cohort	China	152	136	Sequencing	B, C, others	-	-	-	-	7
Baptista 1999	PCC	South Africa	59	52	Sequencing	NA	+	-	-	-	5-7
Blackberg 2003	PCC	Sweden, others	16	19	Sequencing	A, B, C, D	-	+	+	+	≥8
Chen 2006	PCC	Taiwan	50	102	INNO-LiPA	B, C	+	-	-	-	5-7
Chen 2008	PCC	Taiwan	80	160	Sequencing	B, C, D	+	+	+	-	5-7
Chen 2009	PCC	Taiwan	222	300	Sequencing	B, C	+	+	-	-	5-7
Chen 2012	PCC	China	156	310	Sequencing	B, C	+	+	-	-	5-7
Cho 2011	PCC	Korea	69	125	Sequencing	C	-	-	-	-	≤4
Choi 2009	PCC	Korea	42	46	Sequencing	C	-	-	-	-	≤4
Chou 2008	NCC	Taiwan	154	316	Sequencing	A,B,C	+	-	-	-	≥8
Chu 2012	PCC	Taiwan	80	120	Sequencing	B, C	+	+	+	-	4-6
Constantinescu 2014	Cohort	Romania	94	390	Sequencing	A, D	-	-	-	-	5
Datta 2014	PCC	India	22	46	Sequencing	A, C, D	-	-	-	-	≤4
Elkady 2008	PCC	Mongolia	23	25	Sequencing	A, D	-	-	-	-	≤4
Fan 2011	PCC	China	34	38	Sequencing	B, C	+	+	+	-	5-7
Guo 2008	NCC	China	58	71	Sequencing	B, C	+	+	-	-	≥8
Ito 2006	ICC	Japan, United States, Hong Kong	40	80	Sequencing	C	+	+	+	+	≥8
Jang 2007	Cohort	Korea	6	23	Sequencing	C	-	-	+	+	≥8
Kao 2012	PCC	Taiwan	56	112	Sequencing	B, C	+	-	-	-	4-5
Kim 2008	PCC	Korea	60	124	Sequencing	C	-	-	-	+	5-7
Kim 2009	PCC	Korea	135	135	Sequencing	C	+	+	+	-	5-7
Kuang 2005	PCC	Thailand	34	68	Mass spectrometer	NA	+	+	-	-	≤4
Lee 2011	PCC	Korea	31	65	Sequencing	C	-	-	-	-	≤4
Li 2013	Cohort	China	102	105	Sequencing	C	-	-	-	-	6
Lin 2005	PCC	Taiwan	32	142	Sequencing	B, C, Others	-	-	+	-	≤4
Liu 2006	PCC	Taiwan	200	160	INNO-LiPA	B, C	-	-	-	-	≤4
Livingston 2007	ICC	United States	47	1129	INNO-LiPA	A, C, D, F	+	+	-	-	≤4
Lyu 2013	ICC	Korea	318	234	Sequencing	C	-	-	-	-	5
Malik 2012	PCC	India	118	294	Sequencing	A, D	-	-	-	-	5
Muroyama 2006	PCC	Japan	39	36	Sequencing	C	+	+	-	+	5-7
Panigrahi 2012	PCC	India	20	132	Sequencing	A, C, D	-	-	-	-	≤4
Park 2014	PCC	Korea	132	310	Sequencing	C	-	-	-	-	5
Qu 2014	ICC	China	152	131	Sequencing	B, C	+	-	-	-	5-7
Sakamoto 2006	PCC	Japan, Philippines	31	69	Sequencing	A, B, C	-	+	-	-	5-7
Shinkai 2007	PCC	Japan	80	80	Sequencing	C	+	+	+	+	≥8
Song 2005	PCC	Vietnam	48	74	Sequencing	NA	-	-	-	-	≤4
Tanaka 2006	PCC	Japan, Hong Kong	148	180	Sequencing	C	+	+	+	-	≥8
Tangkijvanich 2010	ICC	Thailand	60	60	Sequencing	B, C	+	+	+	+	6
Tong 2007	ICC	United States	101	67	Sequencing	A, B, C, D	-	-	-	-	5-7
Tong 2013	ICC	United States	173	240	Sequencing	A, B, C, D, E, F	+	-	-	-	5-7
Truong 2007	PCC	Japan, Vietnam	32	88	Sequencing	C	-	-	+	+	5-7
Utama 2009	PCC	Indonesia	48	123	Sequencing	B, C	-	-	-	-	5
Wang 2007	PCC	China	47	164	Sequencing	B, C	-	+	-	-	5-7
Xu 2010	PCC	China	60	120	Sequencing	A, B, C	+	+	-	-	4-6
Yin 2011	PCC	China	190	1269	Sequencing	B, C	+	+	-	-	≥8
Yuan 2007	PCC	China	34	207	Sequencing	B, C	-	+	-	+	5-7
Yuan 2009	ICC	China	49	97	Sequencing	NA	+	-	-	-	5-7
Zhang 2007	Cohort	China	32	32	Sequencing	NA	+	+	-	-	6-8
Zheng 2011	PCC	China	156	185	Sequencing	B, C, E	-	-	-	-	7
Zhu 2008	NCC	China	20	83	Sequencing	C	+	+	+	+	≥8

Abbreviations: NA, not available; PCC, prevalence case-control; NCC, nested case-control; ICC, incidence case-control; SSCP, Single-strand conformation polymorphism; INNO-LiPA, Innogenetics line-probe assay.