Exploring the heterogeneity of effects of corticosteroids on acute respiratory distress syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Table 2 Effects of corticosteroids on mortality in different etiologies of ARDS

Etiology of ARDS^a	Number of studies	Number of patients	Relative risk (95% CI)	I²
Unselected ARDS
Randomized controlled trials	3	370	0.88 (0.65 to 1.18)	28%
Cohort studies	4	238	1.12 (0.78 to 1.60)	40%
Influenza-related ARDS ^b
Cohort studies	3	283	2.45 (1.40 to 4.27) **	0%
Sepsis-related ARDS
Randomized controlled trials	2	201	0.50 (0.12 to 2.02)	76%
Cohort studies	2	208	1.04 (0.58 to 1.85)	0%
Post-operative ARDS ^b
Cohort studies	1	20	0.10 (0.01 to 0.63) *	-

^aExcludes the studies of preventive use of corticosteroids; ^bno randomized controlled trials available. *P-value <0.05. ** P-value <0.005. ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome.

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