Table 4 The overall effect of whole egg consumption on body weight and by subgroups, using random-effects model
Study group | Number of studies | Number of participants | Meta-analysis | Heterogeneity | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WMD | 95% CI | P effect | Q statistic | p within group | I2 (%) | P between group | |||
Country | |||||||||
 USA | 14 | 544 | 0.197 |  − 0.351, 0.746 | 0.480 | 119.24 | 0.000 | 89.2% | 0.001>  |
 Other countries | 8 | 573 | 0.371 |  − 0.077, 0.820 | 0.105 | 2.32 | 0.940 | 0.0% | |
Study design | |||||||||
 Parallel | 13 | 802 | 0.121 |  − 0.421, 0.663 | 0.662 | 98.36 | 0.000 | 87.8% | 0.001>  |
 Cross-over | 9 | 315 | 0.409 |  − 0.140, 0.958 | 0.145 | 12.65 | 0.124 | 36.8% | |
Control group | |||||||||
 Nothing | 11 | 616 | 0.333 |  − 0.096, 0.763 | 0.128 | 14.50 | 0.151 | 31.0% | 0.001>  |
 Other foods or supplements | 11 | 501 | 0.130 |  − 0.494, 0.753 | 0.684 | 92.80 | 0.000 | 89.2% | |
Duration | |||||||||
 Less than 12 weeks | 13 | 505 |  − 0.007 |  − 0.556, 0.542 | 0.979 | 92.11 | 0.000 | 87% | 0.001>  |
 12 weeks and more | 9 | 612 | 0.517 | 0.013, 1.021 | 0.044 | 11.55 | 0.172 | 30.7% | |
Health status | |||||||||
 Healthy | 12 | 534 |  − 0.137 |  − 0.763, 0.489 | 0.668 | 80.13 | 0.000 | 86.3% | 0.001>  |
 Unhealthy | 10 | 583 | 0.452 | 0.059, 0.846 | 0.024 | 13.80 | 0.130 | 34.8% | |
Dose of intervention | |||||||||
 Less than 12 eggs per week | 4 | 145 |  − 0.216 |  − 1.491, 1.058 | 0.739 | 0.04 | 0.998 | 0.0% | 0.683 |
 12 eggs per week and more | 20 | 1071 | 0.256 |  − 0.193, 0.705 | 0.264 | 137.45 | 0.000 | 86.2% | |
Energy intake differences | |||||||||
 No | 17 | 823 | 0.589 | 0.031, 1.147 | 0.039 | 33.76 | 0.006 | 52.6% | 0.001>  |
 Yes | 1 | 30 | 0.300 |  − 0.287, 0.887 | 0.316 | 0.00 |  |  | |
 Unclear | 4 | 264 |  − 0.667 |  − 1.370, 0.037 | 0.063 | 52.56 | 0.000 | 94.3% | |
Calorie restriction | |||||||||
 No | 18 | 769 | 0.367 |  − 0.107, 0.841 | 0.129 | 49.48 | 0.000 | 65.6% | 0.001>  |
 Yes | 4 | 348 |  − 0.099 |  − 1.305, 1.106 | 0.871 | 18.44 | 0.000 | 83.7% | |
 Overall | 22 | 1117 | 0.234 |  − 0.207, 0.675 | 0.299 | 136.85 | 0.000 | 84.7% | - |