Statistical analysis
For raw data presented as the median and range or the median and
interquartile range, the data were transformed to speculate the mean and
standard deviation24 .
The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) and its 95% confidence
interval (CI) were used to assess the resistin in patients and healthy
controls. Moreover, Cochran Q-statistic was applied to evaluate the
heterogeneity among the included studies, andI 2 test was applied to further evaluate the
extent of heterogeneity. When heterogeneity existed among studies
(p < 0.05 for the Q test or I 2> 50%), a random-effect model was used; otherwise a
fixed-effect model was utilized. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis
were used to explore the possible sources of heterogeneity. The
sensitivity analysis was conducted by removing any single study at a
time to assess the reliability of the results. Egger’s weighted
regression were used to estimate potential publication bias. A
two-tailed p < 0.05 were deemed statistically
significant. All statistical analyses were performed by R (version
3.6.0) software.