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Table 2 Summary effect estimate for the relationship between any IM exposure (highest estimates in the studies) and Respiratory symptoms (n = 15), and stratified analysis according to study characteristics

From: Association of indoor microbial aerosols with respiratory symptoms among under-five children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Stratification

Study Characteristics (Number of studies)

I2 (%)

Summary Effect Estimate for pooled adjusted data [95% CI]

P-value

Population

All studies (15) [12, 18, 25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37]

78

1.24 [1.09, 1.41]

0.001

Study sizea

Large (6) [25, 30, 32, 34,35,36]

82

1.14 [1.02, 1.38]

0.04

Small (9) [12, 18, 26,27,28,29, 31, 33, 37]

67

1.33 [1.11, 1.59]

0.002

Geographical Location

United States (11) [12, 18, 25,26,27,28,29,30,31, 33, 37]

63

1.35 [1.15, 1.57]

0.0001

Europe (4) [32, 34,35,36]

81

1.06 [0.87, 1.28]

0.56

Year of Publication

2010 – 2019 (2) [12, 34]

84

1.34 [0.58, 3.09]

0.49

2000 – 2009 (13) [18, 25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33, 35,36,37]

60

1.25 [1.12, 1.41]

0.0002

Method of IM Assessment

Air sampling (3) [12, 25, 28]

2

1.48 [1.25, 1.75]

0.00001

Dust sampling (11) [18, 26, 27, 29, 31,32,33,34,35,36,37]

76

1.12 [0.98, 1.29]

0.11

Home Inspection (1) [30]

NA

1.66 [0.85, 3.21]

0.14

Method of diagnosis

Doctor diagnosed (2) [18, 28]

NA

1.60 [1.28, 2.01]

 < 0.0001

Self-reported (13) [12, 25,26,27, 29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37]

76

1.19 [1.04, 1.35]

0.009

Study Quality

Low risk of bias (7) [12, 18, 25, 27, 28, 31, 32]

59

1.31 [1.12, 1.55]

0.001

High risk of bias (8) [26, 29, 30, 33,34,35,36,37]

75

1.17 [0.99, 1.37]

0.06

  1. NA Not applicable
  2. aA large study was defined as a cohort study with a sample size of greater than 600