Table 3.
Sub-group analyses: Degree of endoscopic healing (MES 0 vs. MES 1) and risk of clinical relapse in patients with ulcerative colitis in clinical remission
| Groups | Categories | No. of studies | Relative risk of relapse (95% CI) | Heterogeneity within groups (I2) | Pinteraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publication type | Full text | 13 | 0.51 (0.37–0.70) |
59 | 0.45 |
| Abstract | 4 | 0.40 (0.22–0.70) |
75 | ||
| Study design | Prospective | 5 | 0.55 (0.35–0.84) |
45 | 0.53 |
| Retrospective | 12 | 0.46 (0.33–0.64) |
68 | ||
| Study location | Western | 8 | 0.50 (0.38–0.67) |
17 | 0.85 |
| Asia | 9 | 0.48 (0.31–0.73) |
76 | ||
| Medication* | 5-ASA only | 4 | 0.33 (0.16–0.69) |
63 | 0.20 |
| Others | 12 | 0.55 (0.42–0.74) |
57 | ||
| Endoscopic reading | Central | 4 | 0.34 (0.16–0.73) |
80 | 0.29 |
| Local | 13 | 0.53 (0.40–0.69) |
51 | ||
| Follow-up period | 12 months | 9 | 0.60 (0.44–0.83) |
44 | 0.10 |
| > 12 months | 8 | 0.39 (0.26–0.58) |
69 | ||
| Risk of bias in outcome measurement |
Moderate | 9 | 0.62 (0.51–0.76) |
20 | 0.005 |
| High | 8 | 0.31 (0.20–0.48) |
48 |
*
Type of medication used to induce and maintain initial clinical remission; data extraction was not available in one study.CI: Confidence intervals