Table 4. Factors associated with delay in seeking health care among tuberculosis patients visited health facilities in Ethiopia.

Determinants (References)	Comparison	Number of Studies	Sample Size	OR (95% CI)	P value	I2 (%)	Heterogeneity test (P value)	Egger test (P value)
Information about TB [14,17,18,25,27,32]	Good Vs poor	6	2379	0.975(0.6391.48)	< 0.001	83.6	0.907	0.767
Residence [14,17,28,29,36]	Rural Vs Urban	5	2715	3.459(1.469–8.148)	< 0.001	95.8	0.005	0.939
Sex [17,28,29,36]	Male Vs Female	4	2370	0.972 (0.893–1.059)	0.015	71.4	0.517	0.482
Marital status [28,32,36]	Married Vs Others	3	1392	0.979 (0.454–2.112)	< 0.001	90.4	0.286	0.661
Distance [14,18,29]	≥10km Vs <10km	3	1858	1.631(0.858–3.101)	< 0.001	90.2	0.136	0.952
Social stigma [27,32]	High Vs low	2	847	1.187(0.293–4.798)	< 0.001	95.5	0.810	-
Age [17,27,28]	≥ 45 Vs <45	3	1422	0.363(0.082–1.598)	< 0.001	96.2	0.180	0.433
Occupation [17,27,28,32,36]	Employed Vs Others	5	2944	0.670(0.608–0.739)	< 0.001	93.6	0.001	0.586
HIV Sero status [36,37]	Positive Vs Negative	2	1237	0.502(0.257–0.981)	0.160	49	< 0.001	-
Other treatment sought [14,18,29]	Not Sought Vs sought	3	2212	7.192(5.587–9.257)	0.001	85	< 0.001	0.044
TB can be cured [17,18,25]	Yes Vs No	3	1155	0.586(0.321–1.070)	0.024	73.1	0.082	0.975
Type of TB [14,25,33]	ETPTB Vs PTB	3	911	2.520(1.761–3.605)	0.180	95.3	0.001	0.882
Educational level [14,17,28,38,39]	≤primary school Vs > primary school	5	2164	11.720(1.006–2.938)	<0.001	85.0	0.047	0.923

NB: Vs means versus.