Table 4. Meta-regression of potential heterogeneity among the included studies.
| Covariates | No. of studies | Coefficient | SE | RDOR (95% CI) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | |||||
| USA | 9 | –0.66 | 0.77 | 0.52 (0.10–2.76) | 0.41 |
| others | 13 | ||||
| Sample size | |||||
| < 100 | 13 | 0.87 | 0.70 | 2.39 (0.52–10.96) | 0.24 |
| ≥ 100 | 9 | ||||
| Specimen | |||||
| Effusion | 4 | –1.32 | 1.78 | 0.27 (0.01–13.01) | 0.47 |
| Tissue | 18 | ||||
| D2-40 dilution | |||||
| < 1:50 | 5 | –1.10 | 0.96 | 0.33 (0.04–2.72) | 0.27 |
| others | 17 | ||||
| Cut-off | |||||
| Membranous staining | 13 | –1.52 | 0.72 | 0.22 (0.05–1.04) | 0.05 |
| others | 9 | ||||
| Study Design | |||||
| Prospective | 1 | –0.14 | 1.60 | 1.15 (0.04–37.21) | 0.93 |
| others | 21 | ||||
| Blinding | |||||
| Yes | 3 | −0.97 | 1.30 | 0.38(0.02–6.53) | 0.47 |
| NA | 19 | ||||
| QUADAS score | |||||
| < 9 | 2 | 1.08 | 2.10 | 2.95 (0.03–289.83) | 0.62 |
| ≥ 9 | 20 |
SE: Standard error; RDOR: Relative diagnostic odds ratio; CI: Confidential interval; NA: Not available; QUADAS: Quality assessment for diagnostic accuracy studies.