Table 2.
Sensitivity analyses of NAFLD and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
| Categories | All-cause mortality | Cardiovascular mortality | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | HR (95% CI) | I2 (%) | n | HR (95% CI) | I2 (%) | |
| Using a random-effects model to pool risk estimates of included studies | 12 | 1.34 (1.17–1.54) | 80.0 | 7 | 1.13 (0.92–1.38) | 57.5 |
| Using a fixed-effects model to pool risk estimates of included studies | 12 | 1.28 (1.21–1.35) | 80.0 | 7 | 1.09 (0.96–1.23) | 57.5 |
| Excluding studies using the general population as the reference group | 9 | 1.34 (1.11–1.61) | 82.7 | 6 | 1.05 (0.87–1.27) | 44.7 |
| Excluding studies using liver biopsy to diagnose NAFLD | 8 | 1.28 (1.07–1.54) | 73.2 | 4 | 1.05 (0.81–1.37) | 64.3 |
| Excluding studies conducted in the population with comorbidity | 8 | 1.27 (1.10–1.48) | 78.8 | 5 | 1.15 (0.89–1.49) | 71.1 |
| Excluding studies with sample size more than 10000 | 8 | 1.40 (1.22–1.61) | 25.0 | 4 | 1.24 (0.78–1.97) | 74.7 |
| Excluding studies with sample size less than 1000 | 8 | 1.32 (1.12–1.55) | 84.8 | 6 | 1.14 (0.92–1.41) | 64.3 |
| Excluding studies without full adjustment for confoundersa | 7 | 1.42 (1.17–1.73) | 78.6 | 4 | 1.01 (0.85–1.20) | 41.6 |
aFull adjustment refers to adjustment for age, sex and ≥3 important confounders (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, smoking, alcohol, body mass index, physical activity and socioeconomic status as well as factors associated with these confounders.