Graphical augmentations to sample-size-based funnel plot in meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: Assessing publication bias is a critical procedure in meta-analyses for rating the synthesized overall evidence. Because statistical tests for publication bias are usually not powerful and only give P values that inform either the presence or absence of the bias, examining the asymmetry of funnel plots has been popular to investigate potentially missing studies and the direction of the bias. Most funnel plots present treatment effects against their standard errors, and the contours depicting studies' significance levels have been used in the plots to distinguish publication bias from other factors (such as heterogeneity and subgroup effects) that may cause the plots' asymmetry. However, treatment effects and their standard errors are frequently associated even if no publication bias exists

SUBMITTER: Lin L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6642847 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature