Meta-Analysis and Sparse-Data Bias

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chu H ; Cole SR ; Keil AP ; Poole C ; Richardson DB ; Ross RK
• Description:
  Meta-analyses are undertaken to combine information from a set of studies, often in settings where some of the individual study-specific estimates are based on relatively small study samples. Finite sample bias may occur when maximum likelihood estimates of associations are obtained by fitting logistic regression models to sparse data sets. Here we show that combining information from small studies by undertaking a meta-analytical summary of logistic regression estimates can propagate such sparse-data bias. In simulations, we illustrate 2 challenges encountered in meta-analyses of logistic regression results in settings of sparse data: 1) bias in the summary meta-analytical result and 2) confidence interval coverage that can worsen rather than improve, in terms of being less than nominal, as the number of studies in the meta-analysis increases. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cohort Studies Epidemiology Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Cohort Studies Cohort Studies Logistic Regression Meta-analysis Regression Analysis Statistical Analysis Statistical Quality Control
• ISSN:
  0002-9262
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  336-340
• Volume:
  190
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068279
• Citation:
  Am J Epidemiol 2021 Feb; 190(2):336-340
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. David B. Richardson, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
• Email:
  david.richardson@unc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  University of California Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f55bf40010db13b5db79a5c691d4413a14be3c381de93d656744b8952b62fe5e22a8bba35dd447a23310ec3c819d8edd2a37c6dd8956a54093685316b874586f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230459/cdc_230459_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 176.24 KB ]