Figure 1.
Flow diagram of eligible studies.
Figure 2.
Forest plot of prevention group (left panel) and treatment group (right panel) in the meta-analysis with random effects model.
Estimated odds ratios (OR) for the association of (statin use vs. non-use) and development of Pneumonia; CI- indicates Confidence Interval.
Figure 3.
Influence of a hypothetical confounder present in 20% (Left side, both panels) and 50% (Right side, both panels) of the study population, unaccounted for in the adjustments already performed in the individual studies (Prevention group – top panel; Treatment group – bottom panel).
The graphs indicate what combinations of OREC and RRCD that would be necessary for the confounder to fully account for the observed association between, (1) Statin use and development of pneumonia (ARR = 0.85)in the prevention group and; (2) Statin use and mortality associated with pneumonia before (ARR = 0.70; Solid Line) and after (ARR = 0.86; Dashed Line) adjustment for publication bias) in the treatment group. Abbreviations: OREC, odds ratio of exposure to the confounder in statin non-users vs. statin users; RRCD, relative risk of development of pneumonia in individuals exposed to the confounder vs. non-exposed.
Figure 4.
Contour enhanced funnel plot with regression adjustment model for weighted average of the effect -estimate (treatment cohort).
Contour enhanced funnel plots with implementation of regression adjustment model (green line); The contour lines differentiate the significance and non-significance regions in the plot at 1%, 5% and 10% significance levels.