TABLE 4.

Heterogeneity source analyses for mean difference of TC.

Variables	NO. of studies	WMD(95%CI) (mmol/L)	Heterogeneity		Meta-regression p
			I 2 (%)	p
Chinese
Yes	17	0.259 (0.111, 0.406)	72.9	<0.001	0.095
No	3	−0.083 (−0.270, 0.104)	85.2	0.001
Case-control study
Yes	17	0.221 (0.063, 0.380)	78.2	<0.001	0.477
No	3	0.004 (−0.091, 0.100)	36.4	0.208
Hyperplastic polyps
Yes	16	0.266 (0.110, 0.423)	74.6	<0.001	0.111
No	4	−0.049 (0.216, 0.117)	78.8	0.003
Normal control
Yes	16	0.134 (0.012, 0.255)	77.2	<0.001	0.321
No	4	0.383 (0.001, 0.765)	76.0	0.006
Excluded subjects with family history of CRC
Yes	5	−0.008 (−0.161, 0.145)	76.2	<0.001	0.137
No	15	0.274 (0.103, 0.446)	77.4	0.001
Excluded subjects with family history of CRA
Yes	3	0.178 (0.015, 0.342)	0.0	0.850	0.865
No	17	0.187 (0.052, 0.322)	81.3	<0.001
Excluded subjects with history of inflammatory bowel
Yes	14	0.161 (0.022, 0.301)	75.1	<0.001	0.644
No	6	0.259 (−0.036, 0.553)	85.5	<0.001
Excluded subjects with history of CRA
Yes	7	0.104 (−0.084, 0.292)	80.8	<0.001	0.401
No	13	0.237 (0.067, 0.408)	77.0	<0.001
Excluded subjects with history of CRC
Yes	18	0.232 (0.097, 0.367)	76.9	<0.001	0.157
No	2	−0.168 (−0.686, 0.351)	91.9	<0.001
Excluded subjects with history of colorectal surgery
Yes	3	0.319 (0.016, 0.622)	59.8	0.083	0.513
No	17	0.155 (0.027, 0.284)	79.3	<0.001
Excluded subjects taking lipid-lowering drugs
Yes	12	0.268 (0.082, 0.454)	68.6	<0.001	0.364
No	8	0.065 (−0.074, 0.203)	79.1	<0.001
The OR of smoking >1
Yes	5	−0.038 (−0.176, 0.101)	71.7	0.007	0.070
No	15	0.290 (0.122, 0.457)	75.3	<0.001
The OR of drinking >1
Yes	4	0.022 (−0.055, 0.098)	22.6	0.275	0.378
No	16	0.236 (0.058, 0.413)	80.2	<0.001
Comparable in age
Yes	9	0.384 (0.157, 0.611)	78.0	<0.001	0.060
No	11	0.048 (−0.091, 0.187)	76.1	<0.001
Comparable in sex
Yes	10	0.316 (0.143, 0.489)	81.2	<0.001	0.105
No	10	0.045 (−0.140, 0.229)	76.6	<0.001