Characteristics of included meta-analyses
| Characteristics | All (n=291) | Significant (n=118) | Non-significant (n=173) |
| The number of RCTs included in each meta-analysis, M (P25, P75) | 4.00 (3.00, 8.00) | 5.00 (3.00, 9.00) | 4.00 (3.00, 7.00) |
| Sample size, M (P25, P75) | 805.00 (462.00, 1569.50) | 974.00 (482.00, 2447.25) | 726.00 (438.00, 1330.00) |
| Total number of events, M (P25, P75) | 142.00 (49.00, 350.50) | 212.00 (62.00, 447.75) | 107.00 (41.00, 291.00) |
| I2, %, M (P25, P75) | 4.00 (0.00, 45.45) | 11.00 (0.00, 44.00) | 0.00 (0.00, 50.00) |
| FI, M (P25, P75) | 7.00 (4.00, 15.00) | 8.00 (3.00, 24.00) | 7.00 (4.00, 12.00) |
| Effect size, M (P25, P75) | 1.00 (0.54, 1.21) | 1.00 (0.36, 1.67) | 1.00 (0.69, 1.11) |
| Width of CI, M (P25, P75) | 1.00 (0.41, 1.68) | 1.00 (0.26, 1.58) | 1.00 (0.53, 1.71) |
| Study field, n (%) | |||
| Venous | 81 (27.84) | 27 (22.88) | 54 (31.21) |
| Aortic | 41 (14.09) | 17 (14.41) | 24 (13.87) |
| Peripheral arterial | 96 (32.99) | 48 (40.68) | 48 (27.75) |
| Vascular access | 62 (21.31) | 20 (16.95) | 42 (24.28) |
| Others | 11 (3.78) | 6 (5.08) | 5 (2.89) |
| Outcome type, n (%) | |||
| Non-mortality | 226 (77.66) | 104 (88.14) | 122 (70.52) |
| Mortality | 65 (22.34) | 14 (11.86) | 51 (29.48) |
| Effect measure, n (%) | |||
| OR | 147 (50.52) | 69 (58.47) | 78 (45.09) |
| RD | 4 (1.37) | 1 (0.85) | 3 (1.73) |
| RR | 140 (48.11) | 48 (40.68) | 92 (53.18) |
| Method used, n (%) | |||
| DL | 14 (4.81) | 4 (3.39) | 10 (5.78) |
| IV | 44 (15.12) | 21 (17.80) | 23 (13.29) |
| MH | 233 (80.07) | 93 (78.81) | 140 (80.92) |
| Model used, n (%) | |||
| Fix-effect model | 128 (43.99) | 61 (51.69) | 67 (38.73) |
| Random-effect model | 163 (56.01) | 57 (48.31) | 106 (61.27) |
| Fundings, n (%) | |||
| No | 233 (76.63) | 94 (79.66) | 129 (74.57) |
| Yes | 68 (23.37) | 24 (20.34) | 44 (25.43) |
DL, DerSimonian and Laird; FI, Fragility Index; IV, inverse variance; M, median; MH, Mantel-Haenszel; P25, 25th percentile; P75, 75th percentile; RCTs, randomised controlled trials; RD, risk difference; RR, risk ratio.