Table 3. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses of the pooled results of the correlation between serum IL-6 levels and SLE disease severity.
| Variables | No. of studies | Fisher’s z (95% CI) | p-value | Heterogeneity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I2 (%) | p-value | ||||
| [1] Age | |||||
| Adult | 12 | 0.349 (0.25-0.448) | <0.01 | 61 | <0.01 |
| Child | 1 | 0.522 (0.239-0.805) | <0.01 | - | - |
| [2] Region | |||||
| Non-Asia | 8 | 0.317 (0.221-0.412) | <0.01 | 41.1 | 0.1 |
| Asia | 5 | 0.452 (0.221-0.682) | <0.01 | 76.6 | <0.01 |
| [3] Measuring methods | |||||
| ELISA | 11 | 0.367 (0.251-0.483) | <0.01 | 61.9 | <0.01 |
| Other methods | 2 | 0.354 (0.102-0.606) | <0.01 | 67.4 | 0.08 |
| [4] Definition of activity | |||||
| SLEDAI-2K>4 | 2 | 0.298 (−0.115-0.711) | 0.16 | 82.6 | 0.02 |
| SLEDAI>4 | 3 | 0.31 (0.153-0.467) | <0.01 | 0 | 0.6 |