Many meta-analyses of rare events in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were underpowered
Author | Pengli, Jia |
Author | Lin, Lifeng |
Author | Kwong, Joey S W |
Author | Xu, Chang |
Available date | 2021-02-07T09:27:29Z |
Publication Date | 2021-03-31 |
Publication Name | Journal of Clinical Epidemiology |
Identifier | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2020.11.017 |
ISSN | 08954356 |
Abstract | Background and ObjectiveMeta-analysis is a statistical method with the ability to increase the power for statistical inference, while it may still face the problem of being underpowered. In this study, we investigated the power to detect certain true effects for published meta-analyses of rare events. MethodsWe extracted data from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for meta-analyses of rare events from January 2003 to May 2018. We retrospectively estimated the power to detect a 10–50% relative risk reduction (RRR) of eligible meta-analyses. The proportion of meta-analyses achieved a sufficient power (≥0.8) were estimated. ResultsWe identified 4,177 meta-analyses. The median power to detect 10%, 30%, and 50% RRR were 0.06 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.05 to 0.06), 0.08 (IQR: 0.06 to 0.15), and 0.17 (IQR: 0.10 to 0.42), respectively); the corresponding proportion of meta-analyses that reached sufficient power were 0.32%, 3.68%, and 11.81%. Meta-analyses incorporating data from more studies had higher probability to achieve a sufficient power (rate ratio = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.76, 3.52, P < 0.001). ConclusionMost of the meta-analyses of rare events in Cochrane systematic reviews were underpowered. Future meta-analysis of rare events should report the power of the results to support informative conclusions. |
Sponsor | We would like to thank Qatar National Library for funding the Open Access payment. |
Language | en |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Subject | Meta-analysis of rare events Power analysis Cochrane systematic reviews Statistical inference Decision-making Relative risk redcution |
Type | Article |
Pagination | 113-122 |
Volume Number | 131 |
Open Access user License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Check access options
Files in this item
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
-
Medicine Research [1418 items ]