Statistical methods for dealing with publication bias in meta-analysis

• Published in: Statistics in medicine Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 343 - 360
• Main Authors: Jin, Zhi-Chao, Zhou, Xiao-Hua, He, Jia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 30.01.2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Bias; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Delivery, Obstetric - methods; Delivery, Obstetric - standards; Delivery, Obstetric - statistics & numerical data; Female; funnel plots; Humans; Logistic Models; Meta-analysis; Meta-Analysis as Topic; publication bias; Publication Bias - statistics & numerical data; Review Literature as Topic; Statistical methods; Systematic review; meta-analysis; publication bias; funnel plots
• ISSN: 0277-6715; 1097-0258
• DOI: 10.1002/sim.6342

Publication bias is an inevitable problem in the systematic review and meta‐analysis. It is also one of the main threats to the validity of meta‐analysis. Although several statistical methods have been developed to detect and adjust for the publication bias since the beginning of 1980s, some of them are not well known and are not being used properly in both the statistical and clinical literature. In this paper, we provided a critical and extensive discussion on the methods for dealing with publication bias, including statistical principles, implementation, and software, as well as the advantages and limitations of these methods. We illustrated a practical application of these methods in a meta‐analysis of continuous support for women during childbirth. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.