Efficacy and Safety of Botulinum Toxin Type A for Limb Spasticity after Stroke: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 3

Subgroup analysis for lower limb spasticity.

Outcomes	Factors	Groups	SMD and 95% CI	P value	Heterogeneity (%)	P value for heterogeneity	P value for meta-regression
Muscle tone	Publication year	Before 2010	-0.21 (-1.03 to 0.62)	0.618	-	-	0.762
		2010 or after	-0.10 (-0.94 to 0.73)	0.808	92.3	<0.001
	Mean age (year)	≥ 55.0	-0.69 (-2.08 to 0.70)	0.332	94.0	<0.001	<0.001
		< 55.0	0.31 (-0.12 to 0.74)	0.156	45.8	0.158
	Percentage male (%)	≥60.0	0.18 (-0.16 to 0.51)	0.298	0.3	0.317	0.037
		<60.0	-0.22 (-1.43 to 0.98)	0.714	94.1	<0.001
	Time since event (months)	≥24.0	-0.21 (-1.03 to 0.62)	0.618	-	-	0.762
		<24.0	-0.10 (-0.94 to 0.73)	0.808	92.3	<0.001
	Follow-up duration (weeks)	4	0.62 (0.01 to 1.22)	0.045	85.1	<0.001	0.049
		8	-0.15 (-0.59 to 0.29)	0.504	-	-
		12	0.02 (-0.77 to 0.80)	0.968	91.6	<0.001
		> 12	0.02 (-0.46 to 0.50)	0.934	-	-
	Study quality	High	0.43 (-0.02 to 0.88)	0.058	47.8	0.166	<0.001
		Low	-0.54 (-1.53 to 0.44)	0.278	88.7	<0.001
Fugl-Meyer score	Publication year	Before 2010	1.20 (-1.88 to 4.28)	0.445	-	-	<0.001
		2010 or after	6.26 (3.39 to 9.12)	<0.001	94.8	<0.001
	Mean age (year)	≥ 55.0	6.26 (3.39 to 9.12)	<0.001	94.8	<0.001	<0.001
		< 55.0	1.20 (-1.88 to 4.28)	0.445	-	-
	Percentage male (%)	≥60.0	0.57 (-1.44 to 2.57)	0.580	0.0	0.595	<0.001
		<60.0	8.46 (7.90 to 9.02)	<0.001	27.8	0.239
	Time since event (months)	≥24.0	1.20 (-1.88 to 4.28)	0.445	-	-	<0.001
		<24.0	6.26 (3.39 to 9.12)	<0.001	94.8	<0.001
	Follow-up duration (weeks)	4	0.96 (-0.27 to 2.18)	0.125	70.2	0.018	<0.001
		8	-0.56 (-0.89 to -0.23)	0.001	0.0	0.622
		12	6.66 (4.82 to 8.50)	<0.001	91.0	<0.001
		> 12	9.04 (7.89 to 10.19)	<0.001	-	-
	Study quality	High	-	-	-	-	-
		Low	5.09 (2.16 to 8.01)	0.001	94.9	<0.001
Gait speed	Publication year	Before 2010	-0.00 (-0.04 to 0.03)	0.806	0.0	0.645	0.003
		2010 or after	0.13 (-0.02 to 0.28)	0.089	85.2	0.001
	Mean age (year)	≥ 55.0	0.13 (-0.03 to 0.29)	0.116	89.9	<0.001	0.129
		< 55.0	-0.01 (-0.06 to 0.04)	0.712	0.0	0.712
	Percentage male (%)	≥60.0	0.06 (-0.07 to 0.20)	0.343	85.8	0.001	0.016
		<60.0	0.17 (0.06 to 0.28)	0.002	-	-
	Time since event (months)	≥24.0	-0.02 (-0.09 to 0.06)	0.601	-	-	0.211
		<24.0	0.09 (-0.01 to 0.19)	0.087	85.5	<0.001
	Follow-up duration (weeks)	4	0.01 (-0.02 to 0.04)	0.533	0.0	0.442	0.454
		8	0.07 (-0.03 to 0.18)	0.158	79.7	0.002
		12	0.02 (-0.04 to 0.09)	0.434	66.9	0.029
	Study quality	High	0.00 (-0.04 to 0.04)	1.000	0.0	1.000	0.014
		Low	0.12 (-0.04 to 0.29)	0.139	87.7	<0.001