Table 2. Sub-group analysis of the pooled estimates of overall musculoskeletal disorders.

Characteristic	Estimate (95% CI)	Q	I 2	N
Recall interval
Overall	0.78 (0.75–0.82)	13941.24	99.82	89
Lifetime	0.78 (0.7–0.85)	4752.99	99.4	21
One year	0.82 (0.78–0.85)	4922.35	99.79	65
One week	0.66 (0.52–0.79)	330.09	97.67	8
Sex
Male	0.73 (0.65–0.8)	1914.47	98.69	30
Female	0.77 (0.69–0.85)	2047.83	99.41	32
Dental personnel
Dentists	0.79 (0.75–0.83)	5788.91	99.85	56
Dental auxiliaries	0.83 (0.69–0.97)	768.63	99.7	10
Dental students	0.73 (0.64–0.82)	671.93	98.09	14
Mixed	0.78 (0.66–0.89)	2346.13	99.16	9
Continent
North America	0.8 (0.67–0.93)	3272.59	99.5	7
Europe	0.8 (0.72–0.88)	1530.95	99.29	17
Australia	0.79 (0.66–0.91)	124.04	97.79	4
Asia	0.78 (0.73–0.83)	4693.83	99.88	56
South America	0.81 (0.74–0.89)	21.15	87.39	4
Country
US	0.8 (0.64–0.95)	3263.61	99.59	6
Sweden	0.86 (0.81–0.91)	5.485	67.53	3
Australia	0.85 (0.82–0.88)	3.984	49.84	3
Turkey	0.71 (0.48–0.94)	506.76	99.3	6
Brazil	0.81 (0.74–0.89)	21.15	87.39	4
India	0.77 (0.7–0.85)	1744.26	99.94	20
Iran	0.86 (0.82–0.91)	20.21	71.87	6
Greece	0.66 (0.49–0.82)	41.93	95.13	3
Saudi	0.76 (0.66–0.85)	133.73	95.64	8
Malaysia	0.9 (0.79–1)	43.86	94.73	3
Risk of bias
Low	0.79 (0.75–0.82)	13700.42	99.83	85
Moderate	0.74 (0.58–0.9)	37.04	93.86	4