Whereas geometric means of ratios were in a narrow range of 1.1 2.5, the geometric standard deviations and 95th percentiles increased with dose spacing of the involved studies.
Table 2 shows the involved studies, sample size, and the setting where the study was performed.
The median quality score of the involved studies was 6 (range 4 8).
FJS and HJGB conceived the involved studies and participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript.
Overall, most of the major criteria in the studies were achieved using the Jadad Scale, which indicated the high quality of the involved studies.
Use of the modified mKH procedure is recommended, especially when only a few studies contribute to the meta-analysis and the involved studies' precisions (standard errors) vary.
In the case of the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA), it was the number of cases disclosed, as the involved studies only requested this data from them.
Similarly, there was only one case of deep infection among all the involved studies, and thus meta-regression was not performed for deep infection.
A number of cell factors, including ET-1, ET-21, CRP, hs-CRP, and ET-1, were measured and recorded in most of the involved studies.
It is therefore imperative for investigators to evaluate the assumption of consistency using epidemiological strategies and compare carefully the involved studies with respect to the distribution of effect modifiers before embarking into data synthesis [ 3, 40].
