## 3 Results
### Candida Prevalence in OSCC Compared to the NOM  
The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval for the total _Candida_ prevalence as estimated from each of the included studies are provided in Table 3. Based on the individual odds ratio, the overall ratio was estimated for total _Candida_ prevalence in OSCC as 4.75 (95% confidence interval of 1.85-12.19) as shown in Table 4. The estimated overall ratio was used to generate the forest plots for _Candida_ prevalence as shown in Figure 2. The data revealed a significant association between _Candida_ and OSCC. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{2}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} **The First** \\ **Author** \\ **[Reference Number]** \\ \end{tabular} }} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Selection**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Comparability**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Exposure**} \\ \cline{2-13}  & **Case** & **Case** & **Control** & **Control** & **Control** & **Control** & **Control** & **State** & **Interviewer** & **The Similarity** & **The Similarity** & **Non-Response** & **Total** \\  & **Definition** & **Representativeness** & **Selection** & **Definition** & **Confounding** & **Confounding** & **State** & **Classes and** & **Control** & **Rate** & **Score** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} } \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Quality of the studies included in the systematic review as assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Overall Ratio** & **95\% Confidence Interval** \\ \hline \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{_Candidida_ and OSCC_} \\ \hline
4.75 & 1.85–12.19 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{**CA and OSCC**} \\ \hline
2.75 & 1.13–6.71 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{**NCA and OSCC**} \\ \hline
1.95 & 0.73–5.20 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Random effect model-based assessment of overall ratio and 95% confidence intervals for _Candidida_ prevalence and species specificity from the studies included in the meta-analysis. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Author/Year/Country [Reference Number]** & **Odds Ratio** & **95\% Confidence Interval** \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{_Candidida_ and OSCC_} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2019/India [35] & 13.78 & 3.54–58.27 \\ [PERSON]/2015/Australia [36] & 3.12 & 1.42–7.09 \\ [PERSON]/2019/India [37] & 9.33 & 4.99–17.54 \\ [PERSON]/2015/Finland [40] & 1.70 & 0.84–3.41 \\ \hline \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{**CA and OSCC**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2018/India [34] & 30.00 & 5.67–158.80 \\ [PERSON]/2019/India [35] & 0.58 & 0.10–3.51 \\ [PERSON]/2015/Australia [36] & 3.32 & 1.57–7.05 \\ [PERSON]/2019/India [37] & 3.23 & 1.59–6.62 \\ [PERSON]/2015/Finland [40] & 1.14 & 0.59–2.20 \\ \hline \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{**CA Genotype A**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2015/Australia [36] & 6.41 & 2.77–14.96 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{**CA Genotype B**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2015/Australia [36] & 0.46 & 0.11–1.54 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{**NCA and OSCC**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2019/India [35] & 19.64 & 2.57–851.39 \\ [PERSON]/2015/Australia [36] & 0.78 & 0.27–2.04 \\ [PERSON]/2019/India [37] & 3.66 & 1.73–7.93 \\ [PERSON]/2015/Finland [40] & 1.19 & 0.49–3.02 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{_C. dubliniensis_ and **OSCC**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2015/Australia [36] & 2.06 & 0.26–15.88 \\ [PERSON]/2015/Finland [40] & 1.13 & 0.26–5.67 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{_C. glabrata_ and **OSCC**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2015/Australia [36] & 1.35 & 0.11–12.13 \\ [PERSON]/2015/Finland [40] & 0.36 & 0.03–2.62 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{_C. krusei_ and **OSCC**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2019/India [35] & 8.00 & 0.99–361.35 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{**C. parapsilosis and OSCC**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2015/Finland [40] & 1.51 & 0.08–90.28 \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{_C. guillermondii_ and **OSCC**} \\ \hline [PERSON]/2015/Finland [40] & 0.75 & 0.01–59.46 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Odds ratio and confidence interval calculated for _Candidida_ prevalence and species specificity from each study included in the systematic review.