Quantifying and adjusting the effects of publication bias in continuous meta-analysis

Nik Idris, Nik Ruzni (2012) Quantifying and adjusting the effects of publication bias in continuous meta-analysis. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 69. pp. 156-159. ISSN 1307-6884

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Abstract

This study uses simulated meta-analysis to assess the effects of publication bias on meta-analysis estimates and to evaluate the efficacy of the trim and fill method in adjusting for these biases. The estimated effect sizes and the standard error were evaluated in terms of the statistical bias and the coverage probability. The results demonstrate that if publication bias is not adjusted it could lead to up to 40% bias in the treatment effect estimates. Utilization of the trim and fill method could reduce the bias in the overall estimate by more than half. The method is optimum in presence of moderate underlying bias but has minimal effects in presence of low and severe publication bias. Additionally, the trim and fill method improves the coverage probability by more than half when subjected to the same level of publication bias as those of the unadjusted data. The method however tends to produce false positive results and will incorrectly adjust the data for publication bias up to 45 % of the time. Nonetheless, the bias introduced into the estimates due to this adjustment is minimal

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Additional Information:	4059/26001
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Publication bias, Trim and Fill method, percentage relative bias, coverage probability
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General)
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Science > Department of Computational and Theoretical Sciences
Depositing User:	Dr Nik Ruzni Nik Idris
Date Deposited:	05 Nov 2012 11:23
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2012 11:21
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/26001

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