A study on the effects of different levels of data on the overall meta-analysis estimates
Meta-analysis that pools two levels of data, namely, aggregate data (AD) and individual patient data (IPD) is increasingly common. The implications of pooling these data on the overall meta-analysis estimates have not been fully explored. We examined some of the statistical properties of overall est...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pushpa Publishing House
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/42216/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/42216/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/42216/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/42216/1/06--73-86--PPH-1409008-MS_-_Final_version.pdf |
| Summary: | Meta-analysis that pools two levels of data, namely, aggregate data (AD) and individual patient data (IPD) is increasingly common. The implications of pooling these data on the overall meta-analysis estimates have not been fully explored. We examined some of the statistical properties of overall estimate of the treatment effects from meta-analysis which combine the AD and IPD studies. We compared these estimates with those from the all-AD and all-IPD meta-analyses in terms of the bias, root-mean-square-error and coverage probability. We used simulated meta-analyses to evaluate the behaviour of these estimates. The results indicated superiority of estimates from IPD meta-analysis, compared to those from combined-level studies and AD studies, in terms of the accuracy and efficiency of the estimates. Additionally, for the same statistical properties examined, the estimates from combined-level studies displayed better results over those from all-AD meta-analysis. In the scenario involving different ratios of AD:IPD, we found that combined-level studies generated estimates with better statistical properties, irrelevant of the composition of the AD:IPD ratio. Therefore, whenever possible, we recommend the inclusion of available IPD studies when conducting traditional AD meta-analysis. |
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