Table 3.

Evaluation of publication bias and sensitivity analysis

Index	Egger's regression		Duval and Tweedie's trim and fill
	Intercept	P	Original effect size	Studies trimmed	Adjusted effect size
Comparison between patients with PTB and LC and patients with PTB alone
Persistent chest pain	4.376	0.172	2.07 (1.00–4.27)	0	2.07 (1.00–4.27)
Haemoptysis	−4.398	0.312	0.92 (0.44–1.91)	1	0.77 (0.36–1.63)
Fever	2.527	0.430	0.78 (0.47–1.31)	0	0.78 (0.47–1.31)
Emaciation	4.065	0.284	1.69 (0.93–3.06)	0	1.69 (0.93–3.06)
Irritable cough	4.133	0.320	2.43 (1.43–4.11)	0	2.43 (1.43–4.11)
Night sweating	−3.890	0.159	0.56 (0.36–0.87)	2	0.45 (0.29–0.69)
Calcified shadow	3.158	0.514	1.93 (0.51–7.25)	1	1.34 (0.36–4.92)
Lobulation sign	9.003	0.006	7.67 (3.49–16.84)	0	7.67 (3.49–16.84)
Spicule sign	1.792	0.145	6.66 (4.85–9.16)	3	5.52 (4.15–7.34)
Cavitary lesions	1.030	0.163	0.30 (0.23–0.38)	0	0.30 (0.23–0.39)

PTB, pulmonary tuberculosis; LC, lung cancer.