Tear Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines in Keratoconus: A Meta-Analysis of Case-Control and Cross-Sectional Studies

Table 5

Results of metaregression analyses.

Cytokine	Heterogeneity factors	Coefficient	SE			95% CI (LCI, UCI)
IL-1β	Detection method	-2.78	0.471	-5.91	<0.001	(-3.702, -1.857)
	Unit of measurement	-1.406	2.377	-0.59	0.554	(-6.066, 3.253)
	Quality score	-2.78	0.471	-5.91	<0.001	(-3.702, -1.857)
	Region	-0.013	1.587	-0.01	0.993	(-3.123, 3.096)
IL-4	Detection method	3.573	3.939	0.91	0.363	(-4.128, 11.274)
	Unit of measurement	5.276	1.355	3.89	<0.001	(2.62, 7.932)
	Quality score	3.573	3.939	0.91	0.363	(-4.128, 11.274)
	Region	2.638	0.678	3.89	<0.001	(1.31, 3.966)
IL-6	Detection method	-0.784	0.509	-1.54	0.123	(-1.781, 0.214)
	Unit of measurement	0.212	0.874	0.24	0.808	(-1.5, 1.925)
	Quality score	0.177	0.681	0.26	0.795	(-1.158, 1.512)
	Region	0.506	0.259	1.95	0.051	(-0.003, 1.104)
	Age	-1.733	0.28	-6.19	<0.001	(-2.282, -1.184)
IL-10	Detection method	2.488	1.796	1.38	0.166	(-1.033, 6.008)
	Unit of measurement	3.976	1.718	2.31	0.021	(0.609, 7.343)
	Quality score	3.118	1.441	2.16	0.031	(0.292, 5.943)
	Region	0.797	1.012	0.79	0.431	(-1.187, 2.78)
	Age	-0.924	2.759	-0.33	0.738	(-6.331, 4.483)
TNF-α	Detection method	1.534	1.535	1.00	0.318	(-1.475, 4.543)
	Unit of measurement	3.661	0.898	4.08	<0.001	(1.901, 5.422)
	Quality score	1.534	1.535	1.00	0.318	(-1.475, 4.543)
	Region	1.831	0.449	4.08	<0.001	(0.95, 2.711)

SE: standard error; LCI: lower confidence interval; UCI: upper confidence interval.