Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Aidi Injection Plus Docetaxel-Based Chemotherapy in Advanced Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of 36 Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 4

Sensitivity analysis.

(a) Sensitivity analysis by excluding the poor trials.

Indicators	Number	SM	RR(95 CI)	I^2	Excluded studies	Number	SM	RR(95 CI)	I^2
Neutropenia	26	REM	0.70 [0.61, 0.79]	73%	Poor[36, 47, 54, 57]	22	REM	0.70 [0.61, 0.80]	75%
Thrombocytopenia	17	FEM	0.63 [0.53, 0.75]	0%	Poor[57]	16	FEM	0.65 [0.55, 0.76]	0%
Gastrointestinal toxicity	26	REM	0.76 [0.65, 0.89]	88%	Poor [36, 38, 54, 57]	22	REM	0.75 [0.63, 0.89]	90%
Oral mucositis	3	FEM	0.64 [0.38, 1.09]	0%	Poor[57]	3	FEM	0.64 [0.38, 1.09]	0%

(b) Sensitivity analysis excluding the under- or over-estimated trials.

Indicators	Number	SM	RR(95 CI)	I^2	Excluded studies	Number	SM	RR(95 CI)	I^2
DCR	33	FEM	1.17 [1.12, 1.22]	0%	Over[36, 52, 64]	30	FEM	1.16 [1.11, 1.21]	0%
QOL	22	FEM	1.73 [1.54, 1.95]	12%	Over[22, 33–39, 41, 44, 48, 49, 59]	9	FEM	1.41 [1.14, 1.74]	38%
Neutropenia	26	REM	0.70 [0.61, 0.79]	73%	Under[22, 34, 36, 39, 43, 49, 52, 57, 62, 64], Over[33, 35]	14	FEM	0.72 [0.63, 0.81]	29%
Thrombocytopenia	17	FEM	0.63 [0.53, 0.75]	0%	Under[52, 59]	15	FEM	0.66 [0.54, 0.79]	0%
Gastrointestinal toxicity	26	REM	0.76 [0.65, 0.89]	88%	Under[23, 33, 41, 42, 53, 63, 64], Over[35]	18	FEM	0.86 [0.79, 0.94]	5%
Neurotoxicity	5	REM	0.65 [0.35, 1.18]	56%	Under[41, 42]	3	FEM	1.04 [0.65, 1.68]	0%

Note: DCR: disease control rate; QOL: quality of life; FEM: fixed-effects model; REM: random-effects model; RR: relative risk; SM: statistical method; CI: confidence interval; poor trials (Poor) had at least one domain considered as high risk of bias; over or under: over- or underestimated trials of which results had statistical difference and positive effects on publication bias and heterogeneity.