Table 3.
Results of subgroup analysis and univariate metaregression in diagnostic meta-analysis.
| Covariate | No. of studies | Heterogeneity | Sensitivity | Specificity | DOR | AUC | RDOR | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 2 test (%)/Ph | (95%CI) | (95%CI) | (95%CI) | (95%CI) | (95%CI) | |||
| Sample size | . | |||||||
| N ≥170 | 5 | 60.40/ 0.04 | 0.69 (0.55 - 0.80) | 0.78 (0.71 - 0.83) | 8.00 (5.00 - 12.00) | 0.81 (0.77 - 0.84) | 0.83 (0.23-3.03) | 0.74 |
| N <170 | 5 | 81.10/<0.01 | 0.80 (0.67 - 0.88) | 0.74 (0.63 - 0.83) | 11.00 (5.00 - 27.00) | 0.83 (0.80 - 0.86) | ||
| Source of control | ||||||||
| Healthy people or adjacent non-tumor tissues | 5 | 56.70/ 0.06 | 0.83 (0.73 - 0.90) | 0.75 (0.69 - 0.80) | 14.00 (9.00 - 23.00) | 0.81 (0.78 - 0.84) | 2.65 (0.94-7.46) | 0.06 |
| Liver cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis | 5 | 55.60/0.06 | 0.64 (0.54 - 0.73) | 0.75 (0.64 - 0.84) | 6.00 (4.00 – 8.00) | 0.75 (0.71 - 0.79) | ||
| Specimen type | ||||||||
| Plasmas | 3 | 87.30/<0.01 | 0.79 (0.74 - 0.84) | 0.65 (0.57 - 0.73) | 8.93 (2.37 – 33.64) | 0.72 (0.45 - 1.00) | 0.57 (0.13-2.56) | 0.41 |
| Tissue | 7 | 60.50/ 0.02 | 0.68 (0.64 - 0.72) | 0.79 (0.75 - 0.82) | 8.62 (5.58 – 13.30) | 0.82 (0.77 - 0.87) | ||
| Reference gene | 9 | 74.30/<0.01 | 0.74 (0.63 - 0.82) | 0.76 (0.70 - 0.82) | 9.00 (5.00 - 15.00) | 0.82 (0.78 - 0.85) | ||
| (GAPDH) | ||||||||
| Male (≥80%) | 9 | 68.40/<0.01 | 0.76 (0.66 - 0.84) | 0.76 (0.69 - 0.82) | 10.00 (6.00 – 16.00) | 0.82 (0.79 - 0.85) | ||
| Overall | 10 | 71.40/<0.01 | 0.74 (0.65 - 0.82) | 0.76 (0.70 - 0.81) | 9.00 (6.00 – 14.00) | 0.81 (0.78 - 0.84) |
CI: confidence interval; DOR: diagnostic odds ratio; RDOR: Relative diagnostic odds ratio; AUC: the area under the SROC curve.