Pooled hazard ratio (HR) of mortality for highest versus lowest category of study-specific C-reactive protein (CRP) level, according to selected subgroups
| Studies n | HR (95% CI) | I2 % | pheterogeneity-value | |
| Overall | 15 | 1.53 (1.32–1.77) | 68.7 | |
| Geographic area | ||||
| Europe | 6 | 1.61 (1.38–1.87) | 46.8 | 0.06 |
| USA and Canada | 5 | 1.34 (1.12–1.61) | 46.2 | |
| Europe and USA (multicentric) | 2 | 1.59 (0.58–4.33) | 87.8 | |
| China | 2 | 3.51 (1.69–7.31) | 0 | |
| Study-specific CRP cut-off 3 mg·L−1# | ||||
| ≤3 mg·L−1 | 4 | 1.61 (1.12–2.30) | 58.9 | 0.85 |
| >3 mg·L−1 | 9 | 1.55 (1.29–1.85) | 70.7 | |
| Study-specific CRP cut-off 5 mg·L−1# | ||||
| ≤5 mg·L−1 | 6 | 1.55 (1.25–1.93) | 40.5 | 0.93 |
| >5 mg·L−1 | 7 | 1.53 (1.23–1.91) | 77.0 |
#: two studies did not report the cut-off value [35, 39].