Table 5 Meta-regression results
Combined symptom and medication scores (cSMS) | Rhinoconjunctivitis symptom scores (RCSS) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Meta-regression | At time of primary analysis in original studies (one measure by study) | All pollen seasons included (one measure by pollen season) | All pollen seasons included (one measure by pollen season) | |||
Higher difference between depigmented-polymerized allergen extracts and placebo | Mean difference 95%CI | p-value | Mean difference 95%CI | p-value | Mean difference 95%CI | p-value |
Asthma score | ||||||
Intermittent to moderate included (0) | Reference category | Reference category | Reference category | |||
Mild to moderate included (1) | 1.4 (0.8 to 1.9) | < 0.001 | 1.7 (1 to 2.4) | < 0.001 | 2.4 (0.3 to 4.5) | < 0.001 |
Only moderate included (2) | 2.5 (1.7 to 3.2) | < 0.001 | 2.9 (2.2 to 3.7) | < 0.001 | 2.5 (0.3 to 4.6) | < 0.001 |
Rhinoconjunctivitis | ||||||
Mild excluded against included | 0.8 (0.4 to 1.2) | < 0.001 | 0.7 (0.08 to 1.3) | < 0.001 | 0.9 (− 0.2 to 2) | 0.1 |
Durations of evaluation period | ||||||
Increasing 1 month | 0.1 (0.01 to 0.3) | < 0.05 | 0.1 (− 0.01 to 0.3) | < 0.1 | Not Significant | |
Control group sample size | ||||||
Increasing 10 patients | − 0.1 (− 0.2 to 0.0) | < 0.05 | Not significant | Not Significant | ||
Heterogeneity Q test: | I2 = 0% p-value = 0.469 | I2 = 18.3% p-value = 0.13 | I2 = 84.15% p-value = 0.003 | |||