Fig. 4

Funnel plot for assessment of overall small-study effects. Each dot represents an included study, located according to the logarithm of RR (X axis) and SE of logarithm of RR (Y axis). The dash black lines indicate the triangular region within which 95% of studies are expected to lie in the absence of biases. The plot asymmetry analysis was performed by Egger’s test, which suggests presence of small-study effects (p = 0.003). RR: relative risk; SE: standard error