Table 5.
Association of Male Sex With Sputum Smear and Sputum Culture Positivity Among Patients With Tuberculosis, Using Random Effects Meta-analysis
| Unadjusted ORs | Adjusted ORs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outcome and Time of Assessment | No. of studies | Effect Size (95% CI) | I 2 Statistic | P Valuea | No. of studies | Effect Size (95% CI) | I 2 Statistic | P Valuea |
| Sputum culture for AFB | ||||||||
| All studies | 13 | 1.60 (1.28–1.99) | 24.6 | … | 4 | 1.81 (1.39–2.34) | 0 | … |
| End of intensive phase | 13 | 1.60 (1.28–1.99) | 24.6 | 4 | 1.81 (1.39–2.34) | 0 | ||
| End of treatment | … | … | … | … | … | … | ||
| Sputum smear for AFB | ||||||||
| All studies | 29 | 1.40 (1.24–1.58) | 21.06 | .06 | 6 | 1.45 (1.31–1.61) | 0 | .48 |
| End of intensive phase | 6 | 1.58 (1.41–1.77) | 0 | 3 | 1.42 (1.26–1.60) | 0 | ||
| End of treatment | 22 | 1.23 (1.02–1.48) | 28.27 | 3 | 1.51 (1.16–1.98) | 26.06 | ||
Abbreviations: AFB, acid-fast bacilli; CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio.
a P values pertain to the difference in the ORs for male patients between the subgroups (end of intensive phase and end of treatment).