Table 2 Results of subgroup analyses.

From: C-reactive protein and risk of breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Group

No. of study

OR (95% CI)

Heterogeneity test

   

P for Q test

I2, %†

All

15

1.16 (1.06-1.27)

0.027

45.9

Study type

 Prospective*

13

1.14 (1.04-1.25)

0.033

46.4

 Retrospective**

2

1.42 (1.08-1.85)

0.564

0.0

Geographic region

 Europe

6

1.12 (1.02-1.23)

0.298

17.9

 USA

6

1.08 (1.01-1.16)

0.152

38.1

 Asia

3

1.57 (1.25-1.96)

0.340

7.2

Menstrual status

 Premenopausal

2

1.08 (0.91-1.28)

0.551

0.0

 Postmenopausal

6

1.08 (1.00-1.16)

0.208

30.3

BMI (kg/m2)

  < 25

3

1.09 (0.96-1.25)

0.408

0.0

  ≥ 25

4

1.41 (0.96-2.07)

0.003

78.1

Markers

 Hs-CRP

7

1.22 (1.10-1.35)

0.056

51.1

 CRP

8

1.08 (1.01-1.15)

0.211

27.2

CRP assay methodology

 ELISA

5

1.25 (1.05-1.49)

0.623

0.0

 Other assay

10

1.14 (1.03-1.27)

0.011

58.0

Case diagnosis method

 Cancer registry

6

1.13 (1.02-1.26)

0.280

20.3

 Pathology reports

5

1.23 (1.11-1.37)

0.109

47.1

 Medical records

3

1.04 (0.96-1.12)

0.091

58.4

  1. Abbreviation: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence intervals; BMI, body mass index; Hs-CRP, High-sensitivity C-reactive protein; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  2. *Refers to cohort study and nested case-control study;
  3. **Refers to case-control study;
  4. †I2 is interpreted as the proportion of total variation across studies that are due to heterogeneity rather than chance.
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