. 2019 Jan 28;14(1):e0210644. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210644

Table 3. Effects of HIIT vs. MICT on body composition, aerobic capacity, lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism.

Category	Index	Study (n)	Within-group effects				Between-group effects
			HIIT		MICT		Between-group effects
			SMD (95% CI)	P	SMD (95% CI)	P	SMD (95% CI)	P	I²(%)	Egger test P
Body composition	Weight, kg	20	0.305(0.117, 0.494)	0.002^*	0.319(0.129, 0.508)	0.001^*	-0.039(-0.346, 0.268)	0.803	64.2	0.529
	BMI, kg/m²	16	0.591(0.139, 1.044)	0.010^*	0.727(0.272, 1.182)	0.002^*	0.017(-0.415, 0.449)	0.938	74.9	0.614
	fat%	18	0.609(0.248, 0.971)	0.001^*	0.647(0.315, 0.979)	0.000^*	-0.159(-0.509, 0.191)	0.374	68.4	0.016^§
Aerobic capacity	VO_2max, ml/kg/min	16	-0.966(-1.290, -0.642)	0.000^*	-0.690(-1.037-, 0.343)	0.000^*	0.256(-0.019, 0.531)	0.068	43.9	0.990
Lipid metabolism index	TG, mg/dl	12	0.146(-0.098, 0.390)	0.241	0.068(-0.180, 0.317)	0.589	-0.099(-0.489, 0.291)	0.619	60.4	0.536
	TC, mg/dl	12	0.467(0.157, 0.777)	0.003^*	0.488(0.176, 0.800)	0.002^*	0.121(-0.203, 0.445)	0.464	43.1	0.279
	LDL, mg/dl	8	0.445(0.092, 0.797)	0.013^*	0.287(-0.086, 0.661)	0.132	-0.101(-0.376, 0.173)	0.470	0.0	0.274
	HDL, mg/dl	19	0.129(-0.204, 0.462)	0.447	0.031(-0.276, 0.339)	0.842	-0.092(-0.515, 0.332)	0.671	59.9	0.079
Glucose metabolism index	FBG, mmol/l	10	0.372(-0.401, 1.145)	0.345	0.344(-0.246, 0.934)	0.253	-0.139(-0.803, 0.524)	0.681	81.4	0.476
Glucose metabolism index	Insulin, mU/l	7	0.585(-0.318, 1.488)	0.204	0.779(-0.063, 1.621)	0.070	0.348(-0.105, 0.801)	0.132	43.3	0.039^§

*P<0.05 was defined as a significant difference;

^§P<0.05 was defined as publication bias

MICT: moderate-intensity continuous training; HIIT: high-intensity interval training; SMD: Standardized mean difference; BMI: Body Mass Index; TG: triglyceride; TC: Total Cholesterol; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; FBG: fasting blood glucose.