Table 2.

Meta-analyses of the factors influencing medical students’ choice of subspecialty

Factor	No. of studies	Total no. of participants	EOI value (%)	95 CI% of extent of influence value		Cochran’s Q	I2 (%)	τ2	P value
				Lower	Upper
Academic interests	38	82 366	75.29	66.93	82.11	14 719.76	99.70	1.60	<0.0001
Competencies	17	76 515	55.15	33.63	74.90	23 572.74	99.90	3.44	<0.0001
Controllable lifestyle or flexible work schedule	44	1 01 001	53.00	47.90	58.03	8624.46	99.50	0.45	<0.0001
Patient service orientation	37	46 572	50.04	44.65	55.43	2668.79	98.70	0.41	<0.0001
Medical teachers or mentors	32	85 071	46.93	37.77	56.30	15 216.32	99.80	1.14	<0.0001
Career opportunities	38	81 923	44.00	32.26	48.78	13 553.20	99.70	1.15	<0.0001
Workload or working hours	20	22 051	37.99	29.59	47.19	584.81	98.30	0.69	<0.0001
Income	50	1 09 791	34.70	28.36	41.62	16 952.48	99.70	1.09	<0.0001
Length of training	18	42 046	32.30	27.61	37.37	917.21	98.10	0.20	<0.0001
Prestige	26	30 629	31.17	26.32	37.69	1464.67	98.30	0.52	<0.0001
Advice from others	18	82 692	28.24	22.26	34.23	7679.73	99.80	0.02	<0.0001
Student debt	8	38 917	15.33	10.96	21.03	574.81	98.80	0.27	<0.0001