Table 4.
Incidence of liver fibrosis (LF) in IBD and non-IBD patients receiving MTX.
| IBD | Non-IBD | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groups | No. of articles | Cumulative incidence | 95% CI | No. of articles | Cumulative incidence | 95% CI | RR | 95% CI of RR | P of RR |
| Total | 9 | 3.6% | 1.3–6.7% | 32 | 3.7% | 2.5–5.2% | 0.96 | 0.39–2.35 | 0.933 |
| Subgroup: Year of publication, before 2000 | 2 | NAa | NA | 20 | 6.3% | 2.9–10.5% | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Year of publication, after 2000 | 7 | 3.5% | 0.9–7.3% | 12 | 2% | 1–3.2% | 1.75 | 0.38–8.05 | 0.473 |
| Subgroup: Region of study, North America | 2 | NA | NA | 17 | 4.8% | 2.2–8.3% | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Region of study, Europe | 7 | 5.1% | 2.9–7.8% | 10 | 1.4% | 0.2–3.2% | 3.71 | 0.85–16.15 | 0.081 |
| Subgroup: Study design, prospective | 4 | NA | NA | 15 | 3.6% | 1–7.3 % | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Study design, retrospective | 5 | 3.8% | 0.6–8.8% | 17 | 4.3% | 2.7–6.2% | 0.87 | 0.21–3.55 | 0.847 |
| Subgroup: Children | 0 | NA | NA | 1 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Adult | 9 | 3.6% | 1.3–6.7% | 31 | 3.9% | 2.6–5.4% | 0.92 | 0.38–2.23 | 0.846 |
| Subgroup: Sample size, ≤ 100 | 9 | 3.6% | 1.3–6.7% | 19 | 8.3% | 3.7–14.2% | 0.43 | 0.15–1.25 | 0.121 |
| Subgroup: Sample size, >100 | 0 | NA | NA | 13 | 1.5% | 0.7–2.4% | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Administration of MTX, intramuscularly | 1 | NA | NA | 3 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Administration of MTX, orally | 0 | NA | NA | 18 | 7.3% | 3.3–12.4% | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Administration of MTX, subcutaneously | 2 | NA | NA | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Administration of MTX, combination | 6 | 2.4% | 0.1–6.8% | 4 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Dose of MTX, low | 3 | NA | NA | 19 | 3.6% | 1.3–6.9% | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Dose of MTX, high | 6 | 2.2% | 0–6.2% | 10 | 4.6% | 2.7–7% | 0.47 | 0.04–6.7 | 0.563 |
| Subgroup: Duration of MTX, short term | 5 | 2.4% | 0.1–6.7% | 12 | 1.5% | 0.4–3.1% | 1.58 | 0.11–22.97 | 0.739 |
| Subgroup: Duration of MTX, long term | 4 | NA | NA | 16 | 4.1% | 1.7–7.2% | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Usage of steroid, Yes | 5 | 4.1% | 1.5–7.6% | 6 | 1.3% | 0–4.7% | 3.29 | 0.14–79.43 | 0.464 |
| Subgroup: Usage of folic acid, Yes | 7 | 3.4% | 0.7–7.5% | 8 | 0.7% | 0.1–1.5% | 5.01 | 0.96–26.26 | 0.056 |
| Subgroup: Steroid + low dose + short term | 2 | NA | NA | 2 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Steroid + high dose/long term | 3 | NA | NA | 3 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Folic acid + low dose + short term | 1 | NA | NA | 3 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Folic acid + high dose/long term | 6 | 2.7% | 0.1–7.2% | 5 | 1.2% | 0.4–2.3% | 2.23 | 0.26–19.2 | 0.464 |
| Subgroup: Steroid/folic acid + low dose/short term | 2 | NA | NA | 4 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Subgroup: Steroid/folic acid + high dose/long term | 7 | 2.9% | 0.5–6.6% | 8 | 1.1% | 0.3–2.2% | 2.59 | 0.51–13.26 | 0.253 |
a
NA indicates that analysis is not performed due to limited number of articles (<5).
IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk; MTX, methotrexate; NA, not available.