Table 3.

Predictors of spontaneous HBsAg seroclearance (n = 9,455)

Variables	Univariable model		Multivariable model
	Hazard ratio (95% CI)	P value	Adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI)	P value
Sex
Female	Referent		Referent
Male	1.25 (1.12–1.41)	<0.001	1.66 (1.32–2.09)	<0.001
Age
≤40	Referent		Referent
41–55	1.52 (1.34–1.73)	<0.001	1.16 (1.02–1.33)	0.024
>55	1.96 (1.68–2.29)	<0.001	1.21 (1.03–1.42)	0.023
Ethnicity
Asian/Pacific Islanders/Polynesian	Referent		Referent
Non-Asian/Pacific Islanders/Polynesian	1.51 (1.06–2.15)	0.024	1.17 (0.34–4.09)	0.810
HBeAg status
Positive	Referent		Referent
Negative	3.96 (3.20–4.91)	<0.001	6.34 (4.23–9.52)	<0.001
ALT (10 unit increase)	1.00 (0.99–1.00)	0.710	1.00 (1.00–1.01)	0.650
Cirrhosis status
No	Referent		Referent
Yes	1.03 (0.68–1.55)	0.897	0.71 (0.48–1.07)	0.100
Study settinga
Population-based	Referent		Referent
Health care center based	1.16 (0.27–5.00)	0.840	0.32 (0.02–5.54)	0.430

The C statistic for the multivariable model: 0.995.

E value for male: 2.70 (low CI) 1.97.

E value for age group (41–55): 1.59 (low CI) 1.16.

E value for age group (>55): 1.71 (low CI) 1.21.

E value for HBeAg: 12.16 (low CI) 7.93.

ALT, alanine aminotransferase; CI, confidence interval; HBeAg, hepatitis B e antigen; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen.

^aPopulation-based: persons drawn from several townships or communities across Taiwan (n = 3,302) or New Zealand (n = 572); health care center based: persons drawn from health care centers from the United States (n = 2,532), Thailand (n = 297), Hong Kong (n = 372), Japan (n = 981), Taiwan (n = 2,791), and Korea (n = 417).