Table 1.

Characteristics of the studies included in this meta-analysis. NA = not available.

Authors	Study Design	Age (Years) in ET vs. LT Groups	Sex (Male) in ET vs. LT Groups	GCS Score Information ET vs. LT Groups	How Early Tracheostomy Was Defined by the Studies
Alali et al. [12]	Retrospective cohort	49 (30–64) vs. 53 (35–68)	75.6% vs. 73%	4 (3–7) vs. 7 (3–13)	≤8 days
Bouderka et al. [23]	Retrospective cohort	NA	NA	NA	<7 days
Dunham et al. [19]	Randomized controlled trial	NA	NA	NA	3–5 days of endotracheal tube
Huang et al. [20]	Cross-sectional study	NA	NA	NA	≤10 days after decompressive tracheotomy
Khalili et al. [21]	Observational cohort	41.6 vs. 37.8	50% vs. 86%	6.15 vs. 5.70	≤6 days
Robba et al. [6]	Prospective observational	48.5 (31–67) vs. 44 (28–59	77.2% vs. 76.7%	5.5 (3–10 vs. 5 (3–9)	≤7 days
Shibahashi et al. [22]	Retrospective cohort	68 (62–74) vs. 68 (53–74)	33 vs. 33	6 (3–7) vs. 6 (6–9)	≤3 days
Surgeman et al. [24]	Randomized controlled trial	NA	NA	NA	3–5 days
Wang et al. [14]	Observational cohort	55.3 (19–80) vs. 57.5 (18–85)	87.5% vs. 66%	5.9 (3–8) vs. 5.7 83–8)	≤10 days