Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials on Androgens versus Erythropoietin for Anaemia of Chronic Kidney Disease: Implications for Developing Countries

Table 3

Mean serum proteins at the end of the studies.

Study or subgroup	Androgen			Erythropoietin				Mean difference	Mean difference
	Mean	SD	Total	Mean	SD	Total	Weight	IV, random, 95% CI	IV, random, 95% CI
Aggarwal et al. [6]	6.84	0.2	15	6.2	0.33	15	48.1%	0.64 [0.44, 0.84]
Gascon et al. [5]	7	0.4	14	6.5	0.4	19	25.2%	0.50 [0.22, 0.78]
Navarro et al. [4]	6.7	0.4	13	6.3	0.3	14	26.7%	0.40 [0.13, 0.67]
Total (95% CI)			42			48	100.0%	0.54 [0.40, 0.68]
Heterogeneity: tau^2 = 0.00; chi^2 = 2.13; df = 2 (P = 0.34); 𝐼^2 = 6%.
Test for overall effect: Z = 7.45 (P = 0.00001).