The Perils of Misinterpreting and Misusing "Publication Bias" in Meta-analyses: An Education Review on Funnel Plot-Based Methods.

ABSTRACT: Publication bias refers to a systematic deviation from the truth in the results of a meta-analysis due to the higher likelihood for published studies to be included in meta-analyses than unpublished studies. Publication bias can lead to misleading recommendations for decision and policy making. In this education review, we introduce, explain, and provide solutions to the pervasive misuses and misinterpretations of publication bias that afflict evidence syntheses in sport and exercise medicine, with a focus on the commonly used funnel-plot based methods. Publication bias is more routinely assessed by visually inspecting funnel plot asymmetry, although it has been consistently deemed unreliable, leading to the development of statistical tests to assess publication bias. However, most statist

SUBMITTER: Afonso J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10933152 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature